Lily VS James
by KoolKitty
Summary: This is my version of the classic L/J story. I tried a love/hate - but it didn't seem to work, so it changes half-way through. Please read and review, either way. It's rated PG because there are a few swears, but nothing much.
1. Lily's Letter

*

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What was that?" asked Lily.

"Ha! You're even scared of your own alarm clock? Just proves that you're ugly, _and stupid!" shouted her sister from across the bedroom._

"Petunia! I'll get you for that! Why the hell did you wake me up?" Lily asked again. Petunia just ran out of the room and down the stairs for breakfast.

Lily looked at the clock that was still ringing. She let out a long sigh as she shut off the alarm. Life had never been the way she had dreamed it would be, the way it was in the numerous stories she read. From as far back as she could remember, she had been taunted, teased, and bullied around by her older sister, Petunia.

Petunia was fairly smart, very cunning, and her looks didn't hurt either. With her long, blonde hair, long neck, and small features, she was the most popular girl in school, though that was probably because everyone was scared to dislike her. Lily on the other hand, though much smarter than Petunia, had few friends. She was, at least to everyone in school, the ugliest thing on earth. She had long red hair, and bright green eyes, which to her, was the most inartistic combination. She was also very tall, but she was good at sports and still very graceful, whereas her sister was rather clumsy. Yet still, she had always wanted to look perfect.

Sighing again, Lily got up from her pink, flower-covered bed, and slowly dragged herself towards the window. As she spread open the curtains, the sunshine filled every corner of her room. Even she couldn't help but smile at her multi-colored room. But she wasn't smiling for long, for soon after, she heard a shout from downstairs. Without thinking, she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. There, her mother was sitting at the table, a faded envelope in her hand. Petunia was sitting there too, munching quietly on a piece of well-buttered toast.

"Oh, Darling, Darling! Just come and look at this! It's a letter for you, Dearie," said her mother as Lily walked in.

"For me? Are you sure? Who would be writing to me? The only people who know me live too close to want to write me a letter," asked Lily in amazement. She took the envelope from her mother and stared on it. There, written in bright green ink, were the words:

_Miss L. Evans_

_The Multi-Colored Bedroom_

_34 Bush Lane___

_London__, __England___

"Someone really is writing to me!" said Lily excitedly as she turned over the envelope to open it. On the back was a sticker, sealing the envelope. It was a large coat of arms, with a snake, a badger, a raven, and a lion all around a large H. Peeling the sticker off carefully, she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Slowly, she read the words in the bright green ink.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of WITCHCRAFT __and WIZARDRY_

  


Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, Second Class, Chief Warlock, 

International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Miss Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. 

Term begins on September 1. You must depart from the _King Cross Station in London by the 11 o'clock train at Platform 9 ¾. You will find attached your train ticket. We hope that you will join us at Hogwarts School._

Yours sincerely,

_Nadia Orenstein_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"M-Mum! I – I'm a witch!" said Lily shakily. She handed the note to her mother, who read it quickly. When she looked back at her daughter, there were tears in her eyes.

"My little tweety-bird's a witch! Oh, I'm so proud of you, honey! Just wait till your daddy comes home, he'll be so happy! Oh, Petunia, can you believe it, you're sister's a witch!" said Mrs. Evans, crying.

"Mum, calm down! There must be a logical explanation for all of this! I'm sure it's just one of the kids from school, trying to play a trick on you and _'precious' Lily!" said Petunia, who was rather overcome by all that had just happened._

"It can't be. There's no stamp on the envelope, and no one's ever been to our house or heard about it before, so they couldn't possibly know about my bedroom," said Lily, quietly.

Petunia was furious. She got up, handed the rest of her half-eaten toast to Muffin, her chocolate Labrador who had been lying under the table, and stomped upstairs to brush her blonde hair in front of her bedroom window. She often did this to catch the attention of her classmate, Vernon Dursley, who lived next door. (It was usually either this or spying on him instead.)

"Oh, dear. Your sister never does take too kindly to your good points. But she is ever so good at finding all your down sides," said Mrs. Evans, sighing.

"It's alright, Mums. I'm used to it. Um, when can we get my stuff?" said Lily, who was not able to keep the excitement out of her voice.

*


	2. James' Letter

*

"James Abraham Potter! Come here this instant!" shouted Mrs. Potter from the kitchen. Out in the hallway, James Potter and his best friend, Sirius Black, whispered and laughed together.

"Ever wondered how many instants there are in a minute?" James asked his friend, who was bent over double from laughing so much.

"James! Sirius! Get over here!" she shouted again.

"Coming!" shouted the friends together. As they marched into the kitchen, Mrs. Potter held up a live trout in her right hand and waved it at them.

"How many times have I told you not to leave these fake wands around? They keep turning into animals all over the place! Now take it and get out!" she yelled. And with that, she threw the thrashing trout at the boys.

"Gee Mum, how're we supposed to know if they're fake or not? They look like wands, so we don't know if they're yours, or if they're ours," said James in an innocent tone.

"Exactly," piped in Sirius, as he kicked the trout out of the way. "We're just not educated enough in the art of wand-making to be able to determine whether or not a wand has been made by professionals or by two boys who want to learn what would happen if they… well… accidentally left a fake wand lying around in the kitchen…"

Mrs. Potter narrowed her eyes. "Any more of these pranks and I'm going to make sure for myself that your broomsticks are snapped in half!" she said. Both boys were out in a flash. And within 5 seconds, Mrs. Potter was happily baking a pumpkin pie for supper.

"Those boys… will they ever learn?" she mumbled to herself, as she pulled on her mittens.

Outside in the Potters' backyard, James and Sirius were laughing and joking about Mrs. Potter.

"Man, did you see the look on her face when you were saying your so-called 'innocent speech'? You sure are articulate when you _don't have to be!" said James, laughing._

"Ha, ha, ha! That's _very funny. At least I __try to get us out of trouble. You just stand there staring at your mum as though she's an alien or something…" Sirius said but stopped._

"You know, I think she just might be one…" said James thinking.

"Well at least now I know where you get all of your abnormalities from!" laughed Sirius.

"You stinking little …" started James, but he stopped because almost immediately, two barn owls swooped down out of nowhere, and dropped two identical envelopes onto their heads.

"They're from Hogwarts!" the boys yelled together, as they ripped open the envelopes and read their letters.

"No wonder they knew exactly where we were," said Sirius, reading the address off of the envelope. "Mr. S. Black… The Potters Backyard… 25 Pennington Street… London, England. They don't leave anything out, do they?"

"Just like my mom. Perfect in every way," said James, wrinkling his nose.

"Well, we might as well tell our parents that we've gotten our letters," Sirius said.

"No we don't. My mom knows already. Look over there." James pointed to the back porch, where Mrs. Potter was standing with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, my baby, you've gotten your letter already! Oh, you boys grow up so fast," said Mrs. Potter wiping her eyes. Then suddenly, she went and gave James a big hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Mum! Get off! Oh, come on Mum! Get off of me! Oh, you're embarrassing me! Mum!" yelled James, as Sirius stood at a distance, shaking with silent laughter.

"Naughty boy!" said Mrs. Potter, slapping her son. "Oh, get on with you! I suppose you want to read the rest of your letter. Well, go on! Shoo!" And she walked back to the kitchen.

"Yuck! Aw! Why does she always have to do that! Stop laughing at me! Take that… and that!" James had been wiping his mum's lipstick off of his cheek, but spotting Sirius still laughing, he started pummeling him with some well-aimed punches and kicks.

"Ouch! What was that? That hurts! Hey, get away! Stop it! I said stop! Ok, you're asking for it! Yah! Ha! I got you that time!"

"No you didn't! I've got more! Take that you stupid idiot!"

"No! Get away! Stop! Ha ha-ha! You're the one in pain now! Don't touch me!"

And so they went on and on, until they were too tired and too full of laughter to continue.

"Last one to scare your sister is a rotten flobberworm!" yelled James.

"Hey, wait up!" It was a never ending game. They were just about to run up the stairs when they heard Mrs. Potter screaming.

"What was that? It sounded as though Mum set her hair on fire!" said James.

"Ok, now don't get too excited. Your dad's probably come back from the Ministry, that's all," said Sirius calmly.

"I wish _we could Apparate, and go wherever we wanted to in seconds. Then we would actually be able to dodge the frying pan whenever my mum throws it at us…" said James dreamily._

"Come on. If we don't go down soon, then your mum will probably break into tears in front of your dad. "Oh, our little baby! He's going of to Hogwarts this year, and I'll be so lonely without my ickle Jamesey-kins"" Sirius laughed.

"Oh, shut up Sirius! Well, let's go down. Ladies first!"

And so the boys went down to greet Mr. Potter and sit down to a well-made supper. This had been one of the best days home ever! It was just too bad that they would have to go to school soon… Well, that was just a better reason to have plenty of fun in their last month of freedom!

*


	3. Lily's Trip to Diagon Alley

A/N: This chapter and the next aren't really important, but James, Lily, and Sirius meet for the first time in these two chapters so if you want to you can just read bits and pieces of it. The next chapter and this one are practically the same just that this one's from Lily's point of view and the next one is from James' point of view. After this, I'll be putting them together because they'll be in Hogwarts. Thanks for the reviews!

*

"Hurry up, Mum! If we miss the Underground, then we'll have to walk to the Leaky Cauldron, and I don't fancy walking in this rainy weather!" yelled Lily, beginning to panic.

It was 9 o' clock in the morning, that rainy Sunday, the 10th of July. Lily had, ever since she started 3rd Grade, bought her school supplies on this date. She had always liked the 10th of July, especially since it had been her grandfather's birthday. Mr. Jonathon Andrew Ross had been her mother's father, and Lily always looked up to him. He was always the one who bought the best birthday present for her, who came to cheer at all of her soccer games when he was in town until he became sick, and who always treated her like a 'young lady' instead of a child. The bond between granddaughter and grandfather was so strong that people called them the 'Dynamic Duo' of the Evans-Ross family tree. But, sadly, this was all before her grandfather passed away, three years ago. Ever since then, Lily honored his birthday buy doing her fifth favorite thing in the world on that precise date – buying school supplies.

Now, however, Lily didn't feel as happy. To buy her school supplies, she couldn't go to just any bookstore. She had to go to a café in downtown London called the Leaky Cauldron. Usually it was a 20-minute drive, but in this weather… The sound of her sister's prim voice telling her off was the next thing that made her angry.

"Don't rush her, Liliane. Let Mother take her time. She has more important things to see to rather than _you and __your needs," said Petunia with a nasty smile._

Lily hated being called 'Liliane'. When it was written on paper, she thought of it as an eyesore, and her sense of music was so sharp that hearing it out loud reminded her of nails on a chalkboard. Lily narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth as if to retaliate, but then thought better of it and shut it again. She contented herself with clicking her fingernails against the glass tabletop to match the song she had been learning to play on the keyboard, and tapping her foot in rhythm against the hardwood floor.

"Oh, Liliane! Stop making that racket! What do you think you are doing?" exclaimed her sister, shuddering.

"I'm not _Liliane, I'm Lily! And I'm not making a racket. I'm just practicing my piano skills. You need to get your sense of sound straightened out." Lily grumbled. Petunia just didn't understand the beauty of music. And her sense of color was messed up too. Lily remembered only too well the day when the painting of the walls in their house finished. Petunia's had been painted a pale shade of lilac, whereas Lily's was nearly every color of the rainbow._

The first thing Petunia had said when she walked into her sister's room was, "Mum, are the painters colorblind? Or did Lily try to mess up their work?"

"Are you ready, girls?"

Lily jumped, suddenly bumping down to reality. Her mother was finally ready.

"Oh, yes, of course. _I'm ready, but Liliane isn't. She still has to practice her 'piano skills'," said Petunia._

"Oh shut up, Petunia. And stop calling me Liliane. I'm ready Mum. Can we go now?" asked Lily.

"Come on girls, we're taking the van, not the Underground. Well, hurry up now!" Mrs. Evans was getting unnecessarily annoyed.

*

A while later, the two sisters, and their mother were driving down the busy London streets. Lily pulled out her envelope again, and this time she saw two more pieces of parchment that she hadn't noticed before. One of them was her train ticket to Hogwarts, and the other was her list of school supplies. She had always looked forward to buying supplies for school, because it was the one rare occasion when her mother would let her buy new art supplies. However, when she opened it, she found that the list of supplies was not only emptied of her things, but in their places, it had been filled with a number of things that she had never known existed, let alone seen before. This is what she read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_Of WITCHCRAFT __and WIZARDRY_

**UNIFORM**

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

**COURSE BOOKS**

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"Mum? Can we find all these things in London? I never even knew that such things existed. We're supposed to have _dragon hide gloves too. I thought dragons only existed in fairytales. Listen to this… 'All students should have a copy of each of the following… The Standard Book of Spells Grade One… A History of Magic… Magical Theory… A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration… What is Transfiguration anyway?" Lily asked doubtfully._

Looking back at her daughter through the rear-view-mirror, Mrs. Evans said in a manner that resembled a talking dictionary, "Well, the prefix 'trans' basically means 'from one thing to another', and the term 'figuration' probably has to do with an object, so Transfiguration must be the subject of changing something into something else… like when you read about witches changing people into frogs."

"Is Liliane going to change us all into frogs when she comes home for the summer? Maybe it isn't such a good idea to send her there for school," said Petunia slowly.

"Of course Lily is going to curse us like that! Are you Lils?" asked her mother confidently.

"Don't worry. I'm coming home with a bunch of spells to cast on Petunia so that she'll fall asleep and won't wake up until the bravest person in the world overcomes his fear of extremely stupid and annoying blondes who are named after flowers and who are extremely nosy and kisses her. Gosh, do you think I'm that dumb? I'm not stupid enough to waste seven years of education on someone who won't even appreciate it," said Lily.

"Mother, you need to inform Liliane on how unkind it is to use sarcasm when you are talking to a poor, sensitive girl whose feelings get hurt easily, like me," said Petunia.

Lily was so overtaken with laughter after hearing Petunia's plea for pity that even though she tried desperately to smother up her giggles, her mother sincerely began to worry about her.

"Oh, Lily, you aren't developing a cough, are you? I wouldn't want that to happen. Maybe we should go home?" her mother said, in an unsure tone.

"I'm fine. Really, I am. I guess I just got some dust in my throat, that's all," said Lily, furious that her mother should consider going back home. She convinced herself that she wasn't going to listen to whatever her sister said for the rest of her life…

*

About a half-hour later, the van was parked and the threesome got out. Or at least, two of them did.

"Um… Mother, maybe I should stay in the van, just in case. I mean, if there are witches and wizards in the bar, who knows whether they'll be tempted to turn our car into a giant amphibian?" said Petunia slowly. 

"Oh don't be silly. They're not going to such a thing! Now get out of the van. Maybe we can buy something for you too…" said Mrs. Evans, who was close to laughing like her other daughter herself.

"Hey, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Petunia said happily, jumping up. She had fallen for her mother's bait.

"Will she ever learn?" Lily asked her mother with a smile on her face. It looked like she would have fun shopping after all.

*

"Are you going to Hogwarts, young lady?" asked the bartender behind the counter.

"Yes, I am. Where am I supposed to buy my things?" asked Lily astounded. She had just walked into the tiniest of pubs, yet inside, it was bursting with activity. Witches and wizards were everywhere, ordering drinks, eating meals, talking and chatting away. Waiters and bartenders were working busily, trying to keep their customers happy. At the far back, an open door led to an empty courtyard.

"Go out to that courtyard. You'll see a garbage can there. Take out your wand, oh, but you won't be having one, will you now?" said the bartender, trying to balance a tray with glasses and a bottle of wine on his outstretched arm.

"No, I don't have one," said Lily. "Sorry about that," she added quickly.

"Oh, not at all! Here, come with me. I'll show you what you must do, and after you have your wand, you can do it by yourself. Come, now. Let me show you what to do."

"Um, okay then." The four of them walked out the door. The bartender, still carrying the tray, took out his wand, and tapped the bricks above the garbage can.

"Two up, and three across…" he mumbled to himself. "Okay now, stand back and watch!" The three ladies walked back and flattened themselves against the wall. Before their very eyes, the wall was melting away into the background. In its place, an archway stood. A sign saying "Welcome to Diagon Alley" was standing near the entrance.

"There you are! Now, off you trot."

Lily was astounded, not to say anything of her mother and her sister. The three walked in and stared. They found themselves in a bustling, cobbled street lined with stories upon stories of shops and buildings. At the very end was a large marble-white building. Walking towards it, they found that it was a wizarding bank by the name of Gringotts. Walking inside, they found everything to be made of shining white marble. Lines of goblins sat at desks, either examining jewels or writing up accounts. Lily, who started to feel confident when she realized that the goblins were nearly two feet shorter than she was, went straight up to one of the desks and spoke to the goblin seated there.

"Excuse me, Sir, but I was wondering if I would be able to exchange some of my money for yours," she said, since she wasn't sure what the terminology for wizarding money was.

"Just bang some Galleons on the counter and I'll give you some Sickles," said the goblin, without looking up. He had misunderstood and thought that she wanted change.

"Galleons? I don't think you understand. I need some wizarding money. Could you give me some for the pounds and shillings I have in my purse?" said Mrs. Evans, who had read the goblin's mind.

"Oh, I see. You're a Muggle, aren't you? Not to worry. I'll have someone get you an empty vault and explain to you about wizarding money, and then you can do the exchange," said the goblin, a little too fast for Lily to understand. While she was working out what he meant, she heard him call out, "Longnales!"

Longnales was the name of yet another goblin. The first one gave him directions and then the trio set off behind Longnales.

"Gringotts is the bank of the wizarding world. This is the safest place in the world for anything valuable. Now, wizarding money is pretty simple. You have golden Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Thirteen Knuts make a Sickle; seven of which make a Galleon. It's pretty simple. Now, I'm not quite sure, but I think one pound is equivalent to a little more than one galleon… I'll have to check my books to see. Ah, here we are. Vault 429 – this will be your vault from now on."

The party of four had traveled through winding, underground tunnels in what seemed to be a coal-cart. They traveled past lakes of ice, dripping stalactites and towering stalagmites to reach the vault.

"Oh, and of course, here is your vault key. Don't lose it, or you will not be able to access what you store in your vault. Oh, and I must tell you this. When you open an account at Gringotts, you get a…. Well, let's just call it a 'Welcome Loan'. We give you twenty Galleons, twenty Sickles, and fifty Knuts. You need not pay the money, but at the same time, you need not take it either. It can be asked for at any time. We also award you with ten Galleons for every year you keep your account. That's our way of giving you interest on your money. We'll go back up, now, shall we? I'll give you as much of the loan as you want now, and we'll transfer the rest to your vault after you leave. How does that sound?" said Longnales.

The two girls and their mother just nodded from their seats in the cart (they hadn't gotten out at all) and waited for the goblin to get back in and take them back. Finally, they reached the entrance hall. Brightly shining sunlight met their eyes as soon as they entered, and, for the first time since Lily had gotten her letter, she felt completely sure of herself and her actions. 

"Okay, Dear, first things first," said Mrs. Evans as soon as they had left the bank. "We'll get your course books because those are the most important for your education, and then we'll get your uniform. After that, we'll see if we can get you an animal," said Mrs. Evans.

"What about me?" asked Petunia.

"We'll see about that. Oh, and I nearly forgot, we'll get your wand last," she added to Lily.

"Oh, okay. So, can we go now?" asked Lily, fighting back the urge to pull both of them towards the bookstore.

"Be patient, Liliane. You'll get what you want when you need it. Now be quiet!" said Petunia.

"Look who's talking!" she retaliated.

"You are! That's who!"

"What about you? I always thought that _you thought the world revolved around you, and all of a sudden you're forgetting about yourself? Tsk, tsk, older sister of mine. You're losing your narcissism."_

"You're flattering me…"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I meant to accuse you."

"Oh, shut up Liliane!"

"Don't call me Liliane, you, you…"

"Girls, girls, please calm down! We must hurry if were going to be able to go home before Daddy comes home!" said Mrs. Evans, who was starting to get frustrated.

"Sorry, Mums. Look, there's the bookstore! Flourish and Blotts… I wonder if they'll have the books or if I'll have to look in another bookstore…" said Lily, who was starting to worry. Her mother told her to stop worrying. The three walked in, and sat down except for Lily, who walked straight up to the counter and rang the little bell. Almost immediately, a short, squat man appeared from a back door.

"Good heavens! Is it 10:30 already? Well come, child. I'll get you your books…. You are going to Hogwarts, aren't you? First year there?" asked the man who appeared.

"Yes it is… okay… um yes, this will be my first year," said Lily, who was slightly confused. She did notice, however, two black-haired boys who had just entered the bookstore. They seemed to be talking about her, but she didn't bother to find out, for the man had started to speak again. 

"Then follow me." He started to walk along the numerous aisles of bookshelves, pulling the books off at random. He spoke while he did this, giving Lily briefing about each book and for what she would use it. She listened intently, but soon got bored, until something he said brought her back down to earth.

"_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration… as it says you'll use it for Transfiguration. It's a hard subject, but it is essential to your career as a witch. Transfiguration is the favorite subject of few, but those who enjoy it can become experts in that field. Ah, here's __The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. You'll use this for nearly every subject, especially Charms. Now, if there's one thing I enjoy, it's Charms. It is more enjoyable, especially when you start to learn how to change the appearance of objects. Okay, now this here is __The History of Magic. As you can see, you will use it for your subject called History of Magic. Boring subject… but there you have it…" Lily was starting to feel that __he was a bit boring too. But the man's next words brought her down from her thoughts with a slight bump. "The__ Dark Forces: A Guide blah, blah, blah… Ok, this is your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Take good care of it, now; you never know when you might need it with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named lurking around. Take care of yourself young lady. You could be in extreme danger, for no other reason than your heritage. You were not born a wizard, but you are a Muggle-born, meaning you were not born with wizard blood, but you have been accepted for other reasons. The Dark Lord despises people like you, so be careful. Oh, but I'm not criticizing you and the rest of the Muggle world, I'm sorry if I offended you. Well, let's move on. Alright then, this is your Herbology textbook. __One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, by Phyllida Spore… she certainly is an amazing herbologist, if I do say so myself. __Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is one of the best textbooks about the amazing creatures of the wizarding world. Hippogriffs, flobberworms, nifflers… it's all in here. And finally, here's your last book. __Magical Drafts and Potions is your Potions textbook. Creative name, isn't it? Anyway, you'll find all the recipes and formulas for numerous 'drafts and potions' as the title says. And I think that's it, don't you? That'll be seven Galleons and ten Sickles. Thank you, dear. See you next year."_

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Um, bye…" said Lily, eager to leave, her hands burdened by the seven textbooks and the pile of parchment, bottles of ink, and quills she was holding. She shoved some of the gold she had gotten from the bank quickly into his hand and left, not even bothering to wait for her mum and sister. She noticed, however, that the two boys were still there. _They actually bothered to wait for so long. Lily asked herself._

Mrs. Evans and Petunia rushed out after Lily, for they were also eager to leave; in Mrs. Evans case, it was due to her curiosity to see the rest of Diagon Alley, whereas in Petunia's case, it was due to the fact that she wanted to buy something for herself and then leave as soon as possible.

"Does anyone else think that the man in there was not quite alright in the head?" asked Lily uncertainly. When neither of the others answered, she just sighed and walked onwards to the store Longnales had told her would sell robes for school: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. 

Lily finally found the small shop. She walked in quietly. She was not sure whether she would find yet another strange person. She soon found out that there was no strange person in this store. There were _two extremely talkative ladies. One of them looked like she had just graduated, whereas the other, who was no doubt Madam Malkin herself, was an old, wizened lady whose beady eyes took in everything that went on in her shop._

"Okay, stay calm. You're going to be a witch one day, too, so you had better get used to interacting with them…" Lily mumbled to herself. All in all, she felt apprehensive.

"Oh, a customer! You just step over onto the stool there, and I'll be with you in a second, ducks," said the teenage-looking lady. Lily had the impression that she felt close to all her customers, for soon, she had been called not only 'ducks' but also 'honey', 'chick', 'love', and 'sweetie'.

_What the hell is this woman trying to do? I'm not a baby; I'm an eleven-year-old for Heaven's sake! Lily thought to herself. While such thoughts raced through her mind, she spied another black-haired boy walk in. __What is it with boys and black hair? They keep turning up all over the place. Or is this the same person? No, it can't be. He looks to evil. But then, those other two had identical evil grins too… Lily was lost in her thoughts until the teenage lady told her that she was done. As she had so many times that same day, Lily jumped as she snapped back to reality. Except this time, when she jumped, she landed with a nasty bump on the floor. Red-faced, she thanked the lady, paid her, and grabbed her new robes, hat, gloves, and cloak and ran out. As she ran, she collided with two people. Looking back, she saw that they were the same two that had been in Flourish and Blotts when she was getting her books. __Those guys are really weird… They aren't following me, are they? She quickly turned back around and left, her mother and sister close behind. Both of them felt inclined to laugh at Lily, but by looking at her face, they thought better of it and avoided their chosen reaction._

"Where do we go now?" asked Lily, trying her best to come down after her embarrassing encounter.

"It's getting pretty late, so let's take a lunch break, shall we? We can get your animal later," said Mrs. Evans.

"What! But… but… why can't I get it now? Is it alright if I go and get it on my own?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh, alright then. Petunia and I will go and get some lunch, and you go find your pet store." 

"Thanks, Mum!" yelled Lily, as she ran in the opposite direction.

*

Twenty minutes later, Lily was bent over double, panting from running everywhere. She had looked nearly everywhere in Diagon Alley, but she could not find a pet store anywhere. As she slowly regained her breath, she looked around. _This isn't a pet store; it's Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor! I wouldn't mind buying an ice now, but I need to get my animal… Sighing, she walked onwards, reading the names of the stores as she passed them. __Wow… Florean Fortescue's takes up nearly two times the space as Madam Malkin's did. Okay here's the next building… or shop, whatever. It looks like everything's just a continuous flow. You can't tell where one store ends and the next one starts. What's this one called? I can barely read it… Is that an e or an o? Ee… ee… Eeylops Eye Emporium. I mean Eeylops Owl Emporium. I really need to get glasses._

"Wait a minute!" Lily yelled out loud. A couple of witches nearby started staring at her, but she didn't notice, as she hadn't even realized that she suddenly shouted out when nothing but air was in front of her.

"If this is an 'owl emporium', I can get an owl from here!" she said happily.

"Well, well, well, aren't you a genius?" said an oily voice from behind her. Spinning around, which made her a little dizzy; she saw that it was yet _another black-haired boy. No, actually it wasn't. It was the one who had been waiting his turn in the robes store; or was it the bookstore. No, it was definitely the robes store. There was more than one in the bookshop. From up close, he looked even more evil than she had presumed. Yet there was something in his eyes, was it fear? Or was it anticipation? Whatever it was, Lily was sure that he hadn't been complimenting her when he had spoken out of the blue._

"What do _you want?" she asked, in as brave a tone as she could manage._

"I don't want anything from _you, my sweet little Muggle girl," he replied. His hair looked as though it had been shampooed with a bucket of grease, and his clothes hung loosely on his skinny figure. His nose was hooked and it reminded Lily of her sister's eyelash curler thing. She didn't know exactly what it was called since she never bothered to use one._

Narrowing her eyes, she snapped back, "Don't call me sweet. And if you don't want anything, then get lost, before I make you." Lily didn't know why, but she didn't like the look of this boy at all. He made her feel strangely self-conscious and the sarcasm in his voice made her fell just a little scared. The boy grinned evilly and turned on his heel. Walking slowly, he continued on his way down the street. Lily watched him go until he was swallowed up by the enormous crowd. Sighing, she walked through the double-doors of the pet store.

"H-h-hello?" she asked uncertainly. "I've come to get an owl. Or I could get a cat, or a toad, I'm not particular."

"Hmm… you're a Muggle, aren't you?" said the shopkeeper. Seeing the troubled look on Lily's face, she said, "Now don't worry, I'm not trying to insult you. I was just going to tell you that if you don't mind spending a bit more money than you would for a _toad, that an owl would be the best pet in the world. They make very loyal pets, and they are extremely clever as well. And they even carry your mail. Kind of like, what is it you Muggles used to use? Oh yes, carrier pigeons. They are like carrier pigeons, except that they are bigger so they can carry larger packages, and they are much, much faster. I have seen owls that carry letters half-way around the world in a single day." This seemed to make Lily cheer up a lot._

"Okay… how much would an owl be? Oh! And would I be able to choose what owl I would like? I mean, I read about owls when I was learning about nocturnal animals in second grade, and there are supposed to be many different types of owls, aren't there?" she said excitedly.

"Yes, there are. And you're a very clever young lady. Here, we have barn owls, eagle owls, snowy owls, burrowing owls, great horned owls, grass owls, little scops, and even the tiny pygmies. Which would you like?" said the woman.

"Oh, well, I'm not sure, actually. Pygmies are cute, but are they reliable enough? Burrowing owls would be big enough I suppose, but I want my letters to reach me and not the bones my dog has buried in the backyard. I guess I'd like just a plain old barn owl," said Lily.

"Alright, you can stay here for a minute or two, and I'll come back with your owl." The man left out of one of the doors at the end of the room, and Lily sat down, waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally, the man burst through the door, with a golden cage in hand. Inside, a brown-feathered owl stood, sleeping.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed, running up to the man. Thanking him, she paid him and walked out with her new pet.

"Mum, look at the owl I bought! Isn't he just the prettiest little thing you've ever seen?" Lily asked her mother when she found them again.

"Mother, why does Liliane get so many things when I don't?" asked Petunia.

"Oh, stop squabbling, Petunia! You'll get your turn. You never like buying your school supplies a month ahead, which is why you haven't got any new things yet. I'm sure we'll end up going on August 31st, the day before Little Whinging High School opens for school!"

Grumpy, as usual, Petunia sat down on the street-side bench to eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had packed for herself. She had refused to accept any food from the restaurants in Diagon Alley. Lily thought it was best to accept this fact quietly, rather than remark on how stupid her sister was acting. The three sat down and ate their lunch, none of them talking. Within five minutes of sitting, Petunia tried again.

"Mother, can I go with you to buy _me something? Liliane can take care of herself if you're letting her go off to boarding school. Please?" she asked._

"Oh, we can't go now. We still have to get Lily's wand,"

"Um, excuse me, Miss," said a voice from somewhere behind them.

The three women jumped. As she turned, she recognized them to be the two boys she had seen in the bookstore. 

"We were wondering if you could tell us where you got that beautiful owl from," said one of them.

"Oh, yes. You see, I was looking everywhere for the shop, but I couldn't find it anywhere –," said the other.

"But we did see you, and since you have an owl with you, we thought that we should ask you if you could point us in the right direction," said the first, interrupting.

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then –

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, they're going to curse us! They don't want to turn us into frogs; they want to turn us into owls! I don't want to be a bird! AMPHIBIANS ARE BETTER! HELP MOM, HELP!" yelled Petunia as she leaped into the air and ran behind her mother to hide. The two boys just stared as though the Evans were the weirdest people they had ever met.

"Oh, shut up, Petunia. They're not going to do anything to you. You've probably scared them more than they're scaring you, oh come off it," said Lily, annoyed that real wizards were getting such a bad impression of Muggles. Yet, she couldn't help wondering why _wizards needed directions in Diagon Alley…_

"Well, yes. I can show you where the store is. It's down over there, next to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. You can see it from here, right there. It's called Magical Menagerie, and next door to it is Eeylops Owl Emporium. You can get an owl from either of them…" Lily just continued talking continuously. She vaguely noticed that one of the boys, the one without the glasses, was whispering something to the other, but she decided that boys just must be like that. The whispering had a strange affect, though.

The boy with the glasses, who had been listening attentively, jumped nearly a foot into the air, rather as Lily had so many times that day. "What? Oh, I'm sorry about that. Well, thanks for the information," said James, eager to go and get his owl. The two boys walked away and left Lily in her confused state with her shaking sister, and tired mother. The three just continued eating as though nothing strange had happened.

Then Lily remembered that she had to get a cauldron, crystal phials, brass scales, potion ingredients, and a telescope. She set off on her own again, and went to the Apothecary, where she asked the clerk at the desk for some of the potion ingredients she would need for school. While the lady was busy getting them, Lily had a good look around the room. There was a crate of glittering beetle eyes, and delicate packages of thin spiders' silk. Then, there were jars upon jars of gooey, slimy things that Lily wished she would never have to use. On display in the window, was a large, shining white unicorn's horn. The price tag read that it cost ten Galleons. _I would have to pay ten Galleons for that__. I guess unicorns are very rare…_

"Here you are. Normally, all of this would cost twenty Sickles, but for newcomers to Hogwarts I ask for only a Galleon. How's that for a good deal?" asked the woman, as she handed a sack to Lily.

"Oh, thanks a lot! Here's one Galleon."

And with that, Lily left the store. She crossed the street to Basic Wizarding Supplies where she bought her cauldron, brass scales, and telescope. As she lugged her bag of supplies, she checked her watch. Seeing that it was a quarter past one, she decided to go back to her mother and sister so that she could get her wand.

"Mum! It's nearly one-thirty! We have to hurry and get my wand if we're going to reach home before Dad comes home!" Lily yelled when she sighted her mother.

"Well, come on then. We found a store called Ollivander's Wands or something like that. We can go there to get it," said Mrs. Evans.

"Okay, let's go."

This time, Lily didn't have to think for more than five seconds to figure out whom the two black-haired heads belonged to when she saw them. _Why am I running into these weirdoes all over the place? Why did they have to choose today of all days to get their Hogwarts things?_

"Ah, come here young lady. Sit down and I'll help you out as soon as I'm done with these two fine gentlemen here," said a man, who was undoubtedly Mr. Ollivander himself. 

The three sat down and waited. Lily watched the two boys with interest. It appeared to her that they couldn't find a wand that suited them. The spectacled boy had to try nearly five wands till he finally found one that did something _right. So far, he had knocked his friend out, made a hole in the ceiling, set fire to a few of the wands (which caused them to shoot sparks everywhere), and sprayed Mr. Ollivander with water._

"Oops… I'm sorry about that. Sirius, get up! I know you're just pretending! Get up!" he said. Apparently, he thought his friend was acting. But, when he didn't get up, he got genuinely concerned.

"Can you make him come back to life? I didn't mean to knock him out…"

"Oh, certainly I can. You haven't knocked him out. You've merely petrified him. Now watch closely. _Enervate!" With that, Sirius woke up._

"What happened? Ouch, my head hurts! James, did you do something?" Sirius asked confusedly.

"I didn't do anything. I just knocked you out. No, wait. I didn't knock you out, I 'petrified' you," James said, grinning.

"Yeah, whatever you say. Can I try now?" Sirius asked again.

If Lily thought James was pitiful, it was nothing when compared to Sirius. It took him nearly half an hour to find a wand that worked for him. James was doubled over laughing, and Lily thought that she might have broken one of her ribs from trying to keep her laughter inside. Even Mr. Ollivander was smiling.

"Miss Evans is it? You may come and try for a wand now. Mr. Potter and Mr. Sirius, you two may leave. Good luck on your journey through the wizarding world," called Mr. Ollivander.

"Okay, what do I have to do?" asked Lily.

"Just pick up a wand and wave it around. But I have to measure you first. Tape, get up here and start measuring this young lady." This confused Lily, but she soon saw that a measuring tape had jumped up off of the ground and had started to measure her arm length, leg length, around her fingers, and things like that. Lily waited patiently, but it didn't stop. This started to annoy her, especially since it had started measuring around her neck, and she wasn't sure whether it would strangle her to death or not.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Ollivander, but…" she began.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was still measuring you," he spoke out from behind one of the shelves. "That's enough now. Miss Evans, please come here. Now you can try out these wands. Here, take this one. It is twelve inches long, made of oak, and its core is of unicorn hair… quite flexible too."

"Okay, if you say so." Lily picked up a wand, and, starting to feel like a baby holding a rattle, she wiggled it around. One set of shelves fell over.

"Oh dear, I don't think this wand is going to work. Try this one. Eleven inches, dragon heartstring, holly, nice and springy." So again, Lily picked it up, and waved it. This time, _nothing happened._

"Well, this time the wand didn't react at all, did it? At least nothing bad happened." He had spoken too soon. In about five seconds, parts of the ceiling came crashing on his head.

"My head, oh, how it hurts! Well, don't mind me. Just take the next wand. This willow one measures ten and a quarter inches, has a single phoenix feather, and quite swishy. It should be a good wand for charm work. Try it…"

As Lily grabbed the wand, she felt a sort of warmth flowing throughout her body, as though the wand was radiating heat. As she raised her arm, she felt as though she did it with absolutely no effort, and when she brought it streaming through the air, a shower of pink and gold sparks flew out. Surprised, she stopped abruptly, and looked at Mr. Ollivander, guiltily. He, however, was smiling.

"Well, well, well, we have finally found you a wand, haven't we? Ah, the art of wand making is an age-old tradition, but choosing a wand, there is no such thing. The wand always chooses the wizard remember that, Miss Evans."

Lily started to think that she should classify Mr. Ollivander under the same category as the man who worked at Flourish & Blotts… a little insane. She paid him and went with her mother and sister out the door.

*

"YOU PROMISED! And now you haven't gotten me anything!"

Mrs. Evans tried to convince a _very angry Petunia to get into the car after all Lily's shopping had finished._

"But you didn't get me anything, and you _promised! You're the meanest mom in the world! If you don't get me something, I'll… I'll… I'll scream!" she shouted._

"But Petunia dear, I know I told you that but…" their mum started, and paused, because Lily had whispered something in her ear. Smiling, she started again, "Alright. How would you like a nice chocolate sundae with strawberry slices, a cherry on top, pineapple topping, chocolate syrup, and strawberry syrup?" Mrs. Evans tried her best to coax Petunia into agreeing. _Thank God, she decided to start her diet from next __week._

"Will it be a big sundae? I don't like those itty-bitty things they serve at McDonalds. Those are _teeny!"_

"It'll be huge. Trust me," Lily said. She wanted to go home as soon as possible.

"Well, okay then."

"So much for going home before your dad comes home…," her mother said, sadly.

The threesome walked back to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, where they watched Petunia eat a large ice cream sundae. Then, they were finally on their way home.

*


	4. James' Trip to Diagon Alley

A/N: The same things that I said for the last chapter apply to this one too, except for the fact that this one is from James' point of view. Oh, and if you have any suggestions for the upcoming chapters, please send them to either through email or through reviews. Thanks!

*

"Hey, Sirius! Hurry up! We've got to go to Diagon Alley!" yelled James.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Hold onto your broomsticks," replied Sirius.

They were also going to buy their things for school. Diagon Alley was a small cobbled street that was only accessible by witches and wizards. It was like the shopping complex of the wizarding world. Coming from a wizarding family, they knew all about how to go to Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron, but at the same time, they had different means of getting there.

"Sirius, do you have the Floo Powder? We don't need much; it's just for the two of us. But don't forget to take some with you because we'll need to get back too," said James in a tone that resembled his mother's.

"You're starting to sound a lot like your mom. Stop lecturing me! I know what to do."

The two boys sprinkled some sparkling powder from a pouch onto the fire in the fireplace. Sirius put the pouch back on the table. It suddenly grew to be taller than they were and turned a bright emerald green. James walked up to the fire.

"Diagon Alley!" he shouted to it, as though there were someone inside the fire. Then, he walked straight through it. There was a whooshing noise, and James disappeared. Then Sirius walked through and did the same thing. Only one thing was missing. The pouch of Floo Powder had been left on the coffee table.

*

The boys spun around and around in a world of green flames and choking ash and smoke. A number of fireplaces circled around them. Suddenly, they started to slow down. And as suddenly as they had started spinning, they stopped and found themselves falling headfirst onto a tiled floor. Looking around, they found themselves in Flourish and Blotts, Diagon Alley's bookstore. Dusting themselves off, the two boys pulled out their lists of course books and walked up to the counter.

Behind it was a short, balding man with large spectacles that magnified his eyes to twice their actual size. At the moment, he was helping another customer, a girl with bright red hair, so both Sirius and James took a good look around the store.

"Look at this. _Tantalizing Transfiguration: Do magic for your friends and for your enemies! I can't wait to learn that. Just think of what kind of pranks we will be able to play after we learn it! We can turn your sister's dolls into snakes and her teddy bears into worms…" James said with a dreamy look in his eyes._

"Yeah, after we learn it. Come on, that old bloke behind the desk's done with the redhead. Let's go and at least get our course books, before we start thinking about pranks. It's a good idea, though. I'm not arguing about that –" Sirius said, but he was interrupted by the shadow that he felt falling across him. Turning around, he saw that it was the shopkeeper.

"Can I help you, young sirs?" he asked, with a large toothy grin. "I don't believe I've seen you before, are you going to Hogwarts?"

"What? Oh, yeah. We need our textbooks. Hang on, I'll check the list…" said James. He was about to pull his list out of his pocket when the man interrupted again.

"Oh, you needn't do that. I've been selling books here for so many years (Sirius whispered, "You can say that again!") that I've nearly memorized the list. Now, let's see. This is _The Standard Book of Spells Grade One, and if you'll come over here, I can give you some of the others," said the man. He had started to walk around the room, pulling various books off of the shelves._

The boys followed him around the room and through the numerous corridors, all lined with books, parchment and quills. Finally, they gave him the required amount of gold, and left, their arms laden with textbooks, parchment and quills.

"I don't reckon we're going to get time to do anything _we want with so much work. What are those teachers trying to do, assigning us so many books?" Sirius asked himself furiously._

"Oh, come _on. We've still got to get our robes. And Mum said I could get an owl, too. You've already got one, but I haven't," said James. He had always wanted an owl more than anything. For some reason or other, having an owl to send letters to others intrigued him almost as much as making fake wands with Sirius._

"Alright, let's go. Just be thankful we don't have to wear dress robes. I don't even understand why they were even invented…" Sirius said.

*

The two boys walked into the store next door, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. This was where they would get their uniform. As they were just about to walk through the door, they were suddenly pushed apart by someone. As they stood up from where they had fallen on the concrete sidewalk, they saw that the person who had bumped into them was the very same redhead they had seen at Flourish and Blotts.

"Weird! She seems to be going everywhere we go. Well, come on," Sirius was getting really impatient. When they finally walked in, they saw that they would have to wait again, as there was already someone being fitted for his robes. Neither James nor Sirius liked the look on the boy's face. He had something sneaky about him, as though he was hiding some great secret. His face was pale and his eyes black. They gave the impression of walking into a tunnel. His hair was also black, and it was slimy and plastered to his head. His nose was crooked, as though it had been broken.

"Are you getting your Hogwarts robes?"

The boys jumped, and looked around to see a young, petite woman. She asked her question again. James replied, saying yes, they were here to get them, and if they could get them as soon as possible.

"Oh, certainly. Only, you'll have to wait until the boy over there is done. He's been here for a while now; he kept complaining that we were measuring wrong and that we either made his robes too tight or too loose," said the lady.

"Oh, I'm sure he just likes to complain. I doubt it's anyone's mistake," said Sirius, who had seemed to have found his voice. The woman flashed a quick smile at him, and then turned around to talk to the other boy.

"What happened to you? You didn't say anything until you started talking about that guy over there? And what are you staring at like that?" James asked. Sirius had his mouth open, and was staring at the lady who had just been speaking to them. "Hey, snap out of it. She's probably ten years older than us. Besides, the chicks at school are bound to come kind of like that, right?"

"I'll take your word for it," Sirius said smiling. The boys waited for their turn to come. When they were finally called to be fitted, they saw that the other boy was still there.

"Alright, hon. Now just step onto the stool and we can start," the lady said. James stepped up and winked to Sirius. Then he looked to the boy next to him. The lady had walked off into the back of the store. James took advantage of his time to talk to the other boy.

"Hey, are you going to Hogwarts too?" asked James apprehensively. He didn't like the look of this guy. There was just something about him that turned his mind off.

The boy turned and looked at James with a puzzled look, as though the answer was obvious. "Well, where else would I be going? Living in London, I'm not crazy enough to go to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, am I?" asked the boy. His voice was icy, as though his breath was coming from the cold of the South Pole. His expression was that of superiority, and James felt more and more as though the other boy was mocking him.

"No, I suppose not."

"Alright, Severus, you can go now. I'm done with you. Are you happy with it now?" the lady was back again. She was talking to the boy next to James.

"Something's better than nothing. Just give it here," Severus said, and marched off huffily after banging some silver on the counter. She picked up the money, stuffed it in her pocket and called Severus to stand on the abandoned stool to get fitted for his robes. She called another lady, Marian, to help with Sirius. However, Marian turned to be Marian Malkin, the owner of the store, and therefore she could be safely called a senior citizen.

Sighing, the lady said, "Never had a grumpier customer in my life. That Severus, he has never been happy with what we do for him. Always grumbling, always complaining, that's how he is. Mind you, he's not got a very good family at home. I've heard his family, the Snapes; they've been a supporter of the Dark Side for a long time now, maybe that's why he's turned out like this. You two had better keep yourself away from him. It isn't good to go missing with the wrong sort. There, that's you done. Now, off you trot!"

The two boys took their robes, paid the women that asked for them to come back again sometime, and left.

*

"I still have around twenty galleons left. Do you think that would be enough for an owl?" asked James.

"I suspect so. Let's go and see. Now where would a store like that be?" Sirius asked. They had never bothered to look for a store that sold animals, so they knew nothing about where they would be. Just then, Sirius spotted something familiar out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, what's that over there? Wait, I know what that is! It's that weird redhead! And, she's got an owl! Let's go ask her where the store is," Sirius suggested.

"Are you crazy? Look at her, and those people with her. Can't you see that they're Muggles? It's not that I don't like Muggles, it's just that, well, can you think how stupid we'll look if we ask for directions from Muggles? I mean, this is supposed to be a _wizarding place. We're wizards. At least, we will be after going to Hogwarts. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" James said, confusing himself and Sirius._

"Yeah… I think so. No, never mind. I don't. It couldn't hurt to just ask a humble question from a confused heart, can it?" said Sirius, trying to look as innocent as possible, which only made him look more like a dog that had to go outside.

"Of course it is, oh, not-so-poetic one. But, alright let's go and ask her." And so, the two boys trundled off to ask the girl.

"Mother, can I go with you to buy _me something? Liliane can take care of herself if you're letting her go off to boarding school. Please?"_

"Oh, not now. We still have to get Lily's wand,"

"Um, excuse me, Miss," said Sirius.

The three women jumped. One of them was the redhead girl whom they had seen all over the place that day. The shortest of the three was a blonde who must have been the redhead's sister, and the third could have only been the mother of the two girls.

"We were wondering if you could tell us where you got that beautiful owl from," said Sirius in his most pleasing voice.

"Oh, yes. You see, I was looking everywhere for the shop, but I couldn't find it anywhere –," said James, eager to say something.

"But we did see you, and since you have an owl with you, we thought that we should ask you if you could point us in the right direction," Sirius interrupted.

For a moment, they thought that the ladies hadn't understood them, because they were still standing stock still. But less than a second later, they realized that they were wrong.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, they're going to curse us! They don't want to turn us into frogs; they want to turn us into owls! I don't want to be a bird! AMPHIBIANS ARE BETTER! HELP MOM, HELP!" the blonde girl yelled and she leaped into the air and ran behind her mother to hide. James and Sirius just stared. They knew Muggles were supposed to be stupid, but they never knew they were _that stupid. James supposed that this one was just an exception._

"Oh, shut up, Petunia. They're not going to do anything to you. You've probably scared them more than they're scaring you, oh come off it," said the redhead. She seemed to be pretty smart, but James tried not to admit it.

"Well, yes. I can show you where the store is. It's down over there, next to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. You can see it from here, right there. It's called Magical Menagerie, and next door to it is Eeylops Owl Emporium. You can get an owl from either of them…"

While James listened to her attentively, Sirius couldn't resist whispering in his ear, "Is she going to go on like this all day?"

James jumped. "What? Oh sorry about that. Well, thanks for the information," said James, eager to go and get his owl. The two boys walked away and left the confused redhead, the shaking blonde, and their tired mother.

"And you thought I was obsessed…" Sirius said, half to himself and half to James.

"What are you talking about? Can't I even go and do a simple thing like buying an owl without you making stupid remarks that are irrelevant?" asked James, who was starting to get annoyed with Sirius.

"Here it is, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. She was right; there _are two animal stores right by it. Hey, listen, I'm not too keen on animals, so I'll just get us both an ice-cream each while you get your owl, okay? Thinking of owls and cats and toads and rats just makes me a bit sick… So what flavor do you want?" said Sirius in a rush._

"Triple-decker strawberry sundae with a cherry on top, the way I like it. And make it quick," James replied as he walked through the door of Magical Menagerie.

James' first impression of the small shop was that of a one-room zoo. Cages lined the walls from ceiling to floor, and a number of birdcages even hung from the ceiling itself, and a door in the far corner of the room could only lead to another room, and more animals.

Once again, James was more surprised than welcomed when he was greeted. This time, the voice seemed to come from one of the cages.

"And I suppose you've come to get an owl to take to Hogwarts?" said the voice.

James whipped around, yet saw no one. The voice came again, "Or would you rather take a look around at the other animals first?"

"W-w-who are you? W-w-_where are you?" asked James shakily._

"I'm right in front of you. Here, step back and I'll show you." The voice came again.

James looked in front of him, turning his head this way and that, trying to see if the man who was speaking was behind the cages or in them. But as he was looking, he noticed that one of the rabbits in the cage was doing something extraordinary. It was apparently trying to unlatch the door of the cage, in an attempt to escape. James watched it, not knowing what to do. _What if the rabbit escapes? Will the shopkeeper come in time to stop it?_

When the cage door finally flung open, the rabbit jumped out – or rather, it was in the process of doing so, when it transformed into the shopkeeper himself. 

"Ooh, I'm never getting inside one of those cages again. They're not very good for my back…" the shopkeeper grumbled.

"Um, sir? How exactly did you do that?" asked James in wonder. "Could you teach me how?"

"Alas, what you ask, I can not do. I am an Animagus. I am still a wizard, a human, but I can transform into a rabbit at my own will. I cannot tell you how, because it is against the law to do such a thing unless you are registered with the Ministry of Magic. Now, if I am not mistaken, you wanted to buy an animal?" the shopkeeper said, his eyes sparkling.

"Huh? Oh, that's right. I really wanted an owl… you know, to carry my mail and stuff," said James.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Follow me. I'll show you our owls. Come on, down this corridor over here…" the man said the directions out loud as he walked down the long corridor to the Bird Room, where all the owls were kept. When they finally reached, James couldn't help letting his jaw drop in awe.

Seeing James' expression, the shopkeeper said, "Yes, it is very amazing, isn't it? Magical Menagerie has bred and sold the most owls in the world. We have branches in Africa, Asia, and even North and South America. Not to mention in nearly every large wizarding city in England."

"So, can I get my owl?" asked James, unable to take his eyes off what he saw. The room was little less than a giant bird cage itself. There were bird feeders and water dishes all over, and droppings covered the floor, but what made it most like a birdcage were the birds that were in it.

There were birds of every species and colors, from immortal, fire-colored Phoenixes, to deeply sleeping barn owls, from squawking multi-colored parrots and sweetly singing red-bellied robins, to beautiful white snowy owls. James was so taken in with the beauty of all of the birds, that it was a few minutes before he realized that he had to do what he had come here for. He dreaded seeing Sirius face a few minutes later, thinking of how mad he must be now.

"What is it you want, my good fellow? I have eagle owls, barn owls, screech owls, snowy owls, you name it, and I'll have it." The shopkeeper seemed to be demonstrating an extra amount of courtesy towards James, and James appreciated it, though it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Deciding that it would be best to answer quickly and go back next door, James said the first thing that came to his head, "A snowy owl, please."

"Good choice, my friend. Snowy owls are easily the most beautiful of the lot, especially since they aren't native birds. I've got just the one for you," said the shopkeeper excitedly. "Just hang on for a second, and I'll be back."

Starting to think that this shop was a lot larger than he had first thought, James leaned against the wall thinking of the day's happenings. But he had nearly no time at all to think, for the man was back again, this time carrying a golden cage. Inside this cage was the whitest owl James had ever seen. It was sleeping, since it was day, but James was sure that as soon as it became night, his owl would be one of the most active owls of all.

"You like her, yes? I knew you would. She's a pretty one, but easily offended. All owls are. But this one's strong, and she'll withstand a strong gale. She'll turn out well after she gets accustomed to you. Hopefully that won't take long, here you are then." The man handed over the cage to James, who paid him and left.

"Hey, that's a nice owl you've got there. I guess your owl has to be good if you take _30 minutes to buy it!" yelled Sirius, who was furious for having to wait with two dripping cones filled with scoop after scoop of delicious ice cream._

"Calm down. I'm done, so let's just go and get our wands, okay? Oh, you got the ice cream, didn't you? Well, let's eat it on our way to Ollivander's. Which one's mine?" asked James? He was trying desperately to make Sirius calm down.

"Neither. These ice creams are someone else's. You know that girl we saw?" said Sirius.

"Do you mean the redhead? Yeah, I remember her. She had a pretty weird family," said James. "What about her?"

"These are her ice creams. She came in here as soon as I got our ice creams, and she bought them, but she forgot her money or something like that, and she asked me to hold them for her while she went to get her mum," said Sirius in a rush.

"So where did our ice creams go? You didn't chuck them in the gutter because of her, did you?" asked James grinning.

"I ate them. You were taking so long, I ate mine, and then yours, and I was about to eat hers too, except… well, my sister screams a lot when she's mad at me, and I didn't want to take the risk. I'm already half-deaf because of Sara," Sirius said.

"You're scared of a little Muggle girl? What a joke!" said James, laughing.

"Well, shows how stupid you are. You actually believed me!" said Sirius, who was also laughing. James was furious that Sirius had been joking, but the thought of where they were going next was enough to sustain him from dumping both ice cream cones on Sirius' head. The two boys went to Ollivander's Wands. This was the moment they had both been waiting for, the moment when they would get their magic wands.

"Do you reckon the redhead's going to be in there, too?" asked James as he opened the door. A small tingling noise met their ears when the door shut itself behind them.

"No, I doubt it. If she is, it's probably just a coincidence," replied Sirius.

The two boys walked in. There seemed to be something eerie about the place they had just entered, as though even the dust on the counter top was tingling with the magic that was emanating from the wands that were sold there. To their relief, the Muggle girl wasn't anywhere in sight. There was no one in the room, but there seemed to be noises coming from the back, where row after row of shelves had been placed, all lined with what looked like miniature shoe boxes. James and Sirius walked through an aisle, and found themselves looking at a man hunched over a crate in which there were even more boxes.

"Ah, yes. You boys will have come to get your wands. Am I correct?" the man said, as he looked up and turned to face the boys. Neither of them replied.

The man was old, and the wrinkles on his face were so fine that they looked as though they had been drawn with a needle's point. His blue eyes seemed to be laughing constantly.  His hair and beard were as pure and white as the feathers of James' new, snowy owl, and were so long that they nearly swept the floor as he walked.

"Just wait here a moment and I will go and fetch Mr. Ollivander," said the man. And with that, he swept out, past the shelves and into a hallway that ran off the side of the room.

"That must be Dumbledore. You know the headmaster of Hogwarts. My sis told me he looked something like that, the blue eyes and the long, white hair and beard. And I think I have a Chocolate Frog card of him too," thought Sirius.

"Wonder what he's doing here," said James.

"Don't know… He probably just had to talk with Mr. Ollivander about something."

"Hello, gentlemen… I trust you both are doing well. Well, let's get straight to it. First I'll take your measurements, and then you can start trying out the wands," said Mr. Ollivander as he strode into the classroom.

"Was that Dumbledore?" asked Sirius.

"What's that? Oh, yes, that was _Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Black. He was here to see me about… my products," replied Mr. Ollivander._

"What about your wands?" James asked curiously.

"Well, if you must know… I'm sure you two know about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Well, the feather in his wand was actually supplied by Dumbledore's phoenix. The headmaster was wondering if there was any way I could… well… replace the Dark Lord's wand with another, but I'm afraid to try to do something like that. But that's enough about Dumbledore. I was going to take some measurements. Now where's that measuring tape gone?" While Mr. Ollivander searched for it, James and Sirius whispered to one another.

"I guess they're trying to replace it so that Voldemort won't be able to use it as well. I don't know how they'll be able to though…"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I can't believe everyone's scared of him though…"

"You don't know why they're scared of him? They're scared of him because he has so much power and so many followers, and because he's practically a serial killer. Only worse, because he isn't one of those stupid Muggles that use sharp objects or metal wands instead of curses."

"Alright boys, now which of you is going first?" Mr. Ollivander had returned. James stepped forward, and almost immediately, a measuring tape sprang up and began to measure nearly all parts of his body. Within five minutes, it was lying limp on the floor again, having finished its job. By this time, Mr. Ollivander had brought a number of the miniature shoeboxes out and was piling them up in front of James.

"Ah, come here young lady. Sit down and I'll help you out as soon as I'm done with these two fine gentlemen here," said Mr. Ollivander. James and Sirius both turned around, and to their surprise, they saw that it was the redhead, her strange sister and their mother. The three of them just sat down and waited. It seemed as though the redhead was watching the two boys with interest. 

"Now, just pick up a wand, and wave it around. Take this one. It's made of holly, rather an interesting substance. Its core is of dragon heartstring, and the length is around fourteen inches. It's a bit springy too. Try it and see how it works."

So James tried… and failed by a lot. Instead of showering sparks over the room, he ended up stunning Sirius, who fell over and lost consciousness.

"Oops… I'm sorry about that. Sirius, get up! I know you're just pretending! Get up!" he said. Apparently, he thought his friend was acting. But, when he didn't get up, he got genuinely concerned.

"Can you make him come back to life? I didn't mean to knock him out…"

"Oh, certainly I can. You haven't knocked him out. You've merely petrified him. Now watch closely. _Enervate!" With that, Sirius woke up._

"What happened? Ouch, my head hurts! James, did you do something?" Sirius asked confusedly.

"I didn't do anything. I just knocked you out. No, wait. I didn't knock you out, I 'petrified' you," James said, grinning.

"Sheesh… your vocabulary is getting worse by the day," mumbled Sirius.

"Okay, try this one then. An 'oaken' wand, measuring fifteen inches, and it has a core of dragon heartstring. It might work it might not. Try it out."

This time, James tried to point his wand in as opposite of a direction from Sirius and Mr. Ollivander as he could. This time, however, the wand blasted a hole in the roof.

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry about that, Mr. Ollivander," James said guiltily.

"That's alright, my boy. It always happens. Here, take this rosewood wand. It measures sixteen inches, one of our longer wands. The core is of, well, we've used the hair of a Veela, something I don't normally do. This is because they then tend to be rather, over-excited, shall we say."

"Well, I'll try it," said James, eager to prove Mr. Ollivander wrong. But, it turned out he was quite right. For this time, he ended up spraying him with water, which shot out of the end of the wand at a very high speed.

"Not quite what we wanted there, but never mind. Now take this one. It's made of mahogany, measures a good eleven inches, very pliable, containing a single unicorn hair… a good wand for Transfiguration, if you ask me, for the unicorn hair supplies a lot of power. Try it and see how it works for you."

James took the wand, reluctantly, in his hand. He felt a tingling sensation, and before he knew it, the wand in his hand was glowing brightly, and thousands of green and silver stars shot straight out of the end.

"Well done, Mr. Potter. You've found your wand!" said Mr. Ollivander. James had the impression that he was more relieved than impressed with the aftermath.

"Yeah, whatever you say. Can I try now?" Sirius asked again.

"Certainly, well come here. You can try some of the wands Mr. Potter couldn't use, and then I'll start you on some new ones."

So Sirius tried to make the wands work. He tried, he tried, and he tried. But for some odd reason, he just couldn't find a wand that worked for him. He tried wands of mahogany and rosewood, wands with unicorn hair, and a phoenix tail feather, even a couple with the hair of a Veela. But, he still couldn't find the right wand.

"Oh, you are a tricky customer, aren't you!" said Mr. Ollivander, excitedly. "Here, try this one. A wand of holly, fourteen and a half inches long, with a single unicorn hair. Nice and whippy, that's what this wand's like. Take it and see."

So Sirius took it, and almost immediately, he knew it would work. He slashed it through the air, and a number of dark blue and yellow stars shot out towards the ceiling.

"Yes! We finally got it! Congratulations, Mr. Black, you've finally gotten your wand."

"Miss Evans is it? You may come and try for a wand now. Mr. Potter and Mr. Sirius, you two may leave. Good luck on your journey through the wizarding world," called Mr. Ollivander.

When the boys were outside, they were quiet for a moment. Then Sirius suddenly shouted out.

"Hey! What's with that girl? She's, like, there everywhere we go! What's up with her? I mean, I don't even know who the hell she is, and she's getting to be more annoying than my sister is! And things like that _rarely happen… believe me."_

"How am I supposed to know? And what's it to you that she chose today to get her Hogwarts stuff? Don't let her get to you, okay? Just ignore her and everything will be fine. Just be cool, like I am. It's not like she's going to end up in our house, and take all the same classes we are, right?" said James, logically.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Then, punching his best friend in a friendly way, he added, "But that doesn't mean you still think she's cute…" Sirius ran as fast as he could, for he knew that James would soon be on his tail.

"WHAT! Where the hell did you get the idea that I liked that stupid git? I don't even know her name! Get back here Sirius Black!"

"Even if you don't now, I know you will!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I probably won't even see her, let alone speak to her, so there!"

But he was wrong, terribly wrong.

*


	5. On Their Way

*

"Where's my wand? Where's my wand? Oh, where is it? Oh, here it is. Oh no, now where's my trunk? Mums, I can't find my trunk! Oops, I forgot, you're still asleep…"

Lily had woken up at five o'clock in the morning on September 1st. She wanted to make sure that she had everything. However, it seemed to her that too many of her things were missing, and her mother hadn't even woken up, so Lily found herself more distressed than excited.

It then hit her that it would be a better idea to find the things to _pack first, rather than the trunk to pack them in. So she started to look through her dresser drawers and the shelves in her tidy closet, and finally, she managed to pull together her complete uniform, all her textbooks, and all her equipment._

"Harry, come on Harry. Wake up, please. We have to go soon," Lily called softly to her barn owl. She had always liked the name Harry, but she never knew why. She had always thought that if, when she grew up, she had a son that she would name it Harry. But the time for that had not yet come, so she had named her owl Harry instead.

Harry opened one eye and hooted softly. He understood that he mustn't wake up the whole house. Lily tried diligently to make him wake up, and finally, she succeeded in making him eat his food and drink his water so that she wouldn't have to carry it in the cage.

"Come on, Harry. Finish up so I don't have to carry your water tray with me. I expect you'll have some water at school." Then, turning away, she looked around and thought about school. After July 10, she had gone back to Diagon Alley to buy a book about Hogwarts so that she could read about it. She found out that it was one of the oldest wizarding buildings in England, and she also learned about the four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

"I wonder how we are grouped into the different houses… I hope we don't have to take a test. I don't know any magic at all," she spoke to herself. "I hope I'm in Ravenclaw. That's supposed to be the house where intelligent people are put. Oh, and in Hufflepuff, I'll be able to show people how hard I work! And then there's Gryffindor… It's supposed to be the house in which Mr. Albus Dumbledore was in, and he's the headmaster, so it's probably the best. Then Slytherin, I don't really want to be in Slytherin. I guess it's because it reminds me of snakes," she shuddered at this point, "and I hate snakes. Or maybe it's because of the fact that _Hogwarts: A History related it so much with Dark Magic…" Lily went on like this for some time, until she heard someone else interrupt her._

"Ugh… Liliane, what are you doing at six in the morning?" said a haughty voice behind her.

Turning around, Lily saw that her whispers, which had slowly grown into shouts and squeals, had woken her sister up. Lily smiled brightly and said, "I'm just getting ready for school, Petunia."

"At six in the morning, you're crazy!" she answered.

"Not as crazy as you. I see you haven't even gotten dressed yet, and you have to leave earlier than I do," she answered logically, as she scribbled something on the piece of parchment she was now holding.

Petunia narrowed her eyes, and thinking it better not to answer she left the room. Lily sighed and went back to her parchment. It was a checklist of the things she had to pack.

\s 

  


\s Robes

\s Cloak

\s Gloves

\s Hat

\s 8 Textbooks

\s Wand

\s Cauldron

\s Brass Scales

Telescope

Birdcage

"Okay, uniform goes here… I can check that. Two, four, six, eight… good I have all my textbooks. Check that too. Now I have to pack my equipment and things. Wand… check. Cauldron… check. Scales and telescope… double check. And where's the birdcage? Harry, please! Oh, all right. You can stay in the cage till we reach school… Oh, this is going to affect my checking!" who was starting to get frustrated just like her mother often did. After packing everything in her trunk, which she finally found under her desk (by stubbing her toe on it when she walked over to the desk), Lily walked downstairs to get some breakfast. Checking the watch on her hand, she saw that it was 7:30. Yawning, she sat down at the nook table across from her father who was reading the daily newspaper.

"Good Morning, Lily dear," said her mum as she put down a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her daughter.

"Same to you, Mum… and you too, Father," said Lily. Even though she was her mother's favorite daughter, and she got good grades and acted decently most of the time, she had never managed to receive the special attention that her dad gave Petunia. It used to puzzle her when she was little, but now, though she still didn't know why, she had grown used to it and had learned to accept it as one of the small things in life that just couldn't be helped. It was for this reason, that she called him 'Father' instead of 'Dad' or 'Daddy', even though Petunia did. Lily respected her father, but she was never quite sure whether it was true respect, or whether the truth was, she was actually scared of him. 

"So, Princess, have you gotten everything ready?" he asked. Lily assumed that he was talking to Petunia, so she kept quiet and just picked at her scrambled eggs. Petunia, on the other hand, suddenly started jabbering.

"Oh, Daddy, there's just so much stuff to pack, I don't know where to start! I mean, I have my uniform, my textbooks, and my stationary, but I also want to take photographs and my camera and…" but she was cut short.

"Oh, Petunia, I wasn't talking to you, Honey. Lily, have you gotten everything ready, Dear?" he asked again, quietly.

Lily looked up, speechless. Her father was actually speaking to her, and he wasn't upset! Thinking that it would be best to answer while he was in a good mood, she replied quickly, "Yes, Father, everything's ready to go. I brought my trunk and Harry's cage down. They're by the front door."

"What about me?" asked Petunia? Everyone ignored her.

"Good… very good… you'll all set then. I'll have to drop off Petunia first, of course, and then you and I can go down to King Cross Station. How's that sound?" he asked, smiling. Lily didn't trust herself to speak at the moment, so she just smiled back and turned back to her plate.

Meanwhile, however, things weren't going as well in another part of London…

*

"James! _James! JAMES!" called Mrs. Potter from the kitchen._

"Yes, Mum?" asked James sleepily, as he came down the stairs scratching his head and rubbing his eyes. He was still in his pajamas.

"For Heaven's sake, please get ready! Are you all packed and ready to go? Did you find your uniform? I washed and ironed it and kept it in the top drawer of your chest in case you'd mess it up. Where's your owl, Venus? If she's still sleeping, you'd better wake her up. Don't bother packing any food for her since she'll get plenty at Hogwarts. Are you even listening?" she thundered.

"Huh? Yes, Mum, I'll do all that…,"said James. As he walked up the stairs, he suddenly woke up, and, realizing what day it was, he started running, taking the stairs three at a time.

"Alright, today's the first day of Hogwarts! I hope Sirius is up. Okay, now where did Mum say my uniform was?" James said, excitedly. As he ran around upstairs, getting everything ready, Sirius was sitting stiffly in a chair.

"Remember, if I hear that you're bringing down our family's social position by, by setting Professor Nadia's hat on fire, I'll go to Hogwarts myself and bring you home and set you to work scrubbing the floors, washing the windows, doing the dishes, cleaning the sinks, and… and I won't let you go over to James' house for a year. Is that understood?"

Sirius was sitting rigid in a chair, where his eighteen-year-old sister stood in front of him, lecturing. _Why does she always have to lecture like this? I mean, at least when she yells at me there's some sort of change in her voice… When she lectures, it's as though this robot's speaking to me through her mouth._

Sirius yawned. His sister saw this, but she pretended not to notice. Instead, she just continued to lecture him. Luckily, Mrs. Black His sister saw this,  but pretended that she didn't notice. Instead, she just went on lecturing.Hhad started wondering where her son was, and Apparated upstairs to look for him. When she saw what the two of them were up to, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Ha, ha-ha... oh, Sabrina, don't bother. I'm sure Sirius will be just fine at Hogwarts. After all, I'm sure that Albus Dumbledore won't tolerate any of the nonsense that goes on at home anyway. You'd better go and get ready for work. Now, Sirius, I want you ready to go in less than five minutes, is that understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am, sure," he said, mockingly.

"Well, then get going!"

Sirius, dodging the rolling pin his mother had flung at him, ran out of the room laughing and got ready for school.

"Hey, Sirius! Get down here! Are you ready, yet?" called a voice from downstairs twenty minutes later. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was 10:40.

"Come _on, Sirius, or we'll be late for the Hogwarts Express!"_

"I'm coming, James!" Sirius called back. He fastened the latches, locks, and buckles on his trunk and dragged it down the winding stairs.

"Well, what took you so long?" asked James impatiently. He was sitting on his ancient trunk with his wand in his pocket and his birdcage in his hand. The snowy owl was sitting in it, and Sirius couldn't help feeling regretful that he hadn't gotten one too.

"Well, I would have been ready about half-an-hour ago except…" Sirius began.

"Don't tell me Sabrina started lecturing you again…" James interrupted.

"Well, what else could make me 30 minutes late?"

"Do you both have everything, boys?" asked Mr. Black. He was going to drive them both to King Cross Station in downtown London.

"Yes, Dad, we're ready."

"Yeah, we're ready Mr. Black."

"Well, then, let's go. Bernie, come here please!"

"You called, Master?" asked Bernie. Bernie was the Blacks' house-elf.

"Bernie, could you please take the boys' trunks and put them in the car?" asked Mr. Black.

"Of course, Master, I can do that." Bernie went and put them away. He picked them up easily, and being a house-elf, this was no simple feat. The trunks weighed more than the boys did, and Bernie was small enough to use a pillowcase as a sleeping bag. The boys just stared, and then walked behind him and sat in the car.

"'Bye boys, I'll see you again in the winter break, if you come!" called Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Black from the driveway. And with that, they pulled out and drove away.

*

"Bye, Mums, I'll see you in the summertime," called Lily from the front passenger seat of her dad's car.

"See you later, sweetie. Remember to be good, and pay attention in class and…"

"Honey, I think she'll remember that whether you remind her or not," interrupted Mr. Potter.

"Alright, well, bye Lils."

And within a minute, Lily was on her way to King Cross Station too.

*


	6. The Train Ride

*

"I'll see you in the summer, Lils. Be careful, I've read some of those books of yours, and all this magic business sounds a bit dangerous. Pease be careful. I don't want you coming back home with an extra head or a tail or something like that. Now, have a good time, okay?"

"Dad, you sound as though you're sending me to the Moon or something! I'm just going to a boarding school, that's it!" said Lily, shocked.

"I know. It's just that, well, Petunia just gets along better with people than you do. I don't know why, I've always thought it should be the other way around. Well, anyway, take care of yourself and send, 'Harry', with some letters every now and then. See you in the summer, Princess." Mr. Evans kissed his daughter on the forehead and left.

 "Okay, now what to do I do?" Lily asked herself. She was an eleven-year-old girl, stuck at King's Cross Station, with a trunk full of spell books, a wand, and robes. How would she even be able to ask other Muggles for help? Looking around, sadly, she decided it was worth the risk. Thinking that it would be best not to mention her school, she walked up to one of the men in uniforms and asked about the train that left at eleven. But when he said there _was no such train, she decided to look back at her ticket to find out at least __where she should go to board it._

"Okay, what does it say here? King's Cross Station, I'm here now. Building A, I've covered that too. Platform 9 ¾, what kind of a platform is _that?" Lily walked over to Platform 9, and looking beyond that, she saw Platform 10. __Looks like mine should be somewhere in the middle, but it isn't. Now what do I do?_

Lily sat on the bench and thought. She couldn't possibly ask another of the men in uniforms, that wouldn't be any help at all. Then what could she do? She settled for watching the people come and go. She supposed that there had to be some people who were going to Hogwarts, and if so, she could follow them to the platform. Yet no one came, and no one went. Lily was just about to give up and send her owl back to her parents, when she saw something familiar.

Two black-haired boys, one with glasses and one without, were pushing trolleys with large trunks. And the one with the glasses had an owl. Where had she seen them before? And then it clicked. These boys were James Black and Sirius Potter, no wait; it was the other way around. They were James Potter and Sirius Black. Deciding that it would be better to ask to help rather than follow them, she pushed her cart in front of them.

"Um, excuse me, but I'm a Muggle, and I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to get onto the platform. I…" said Lily, but she was interrupted by Sirius.

"Aren't you the dinky redhead who we saw at Diagon Alley? Didn't you tell us where the Owl Emporium was?" he asked.

"Well, yes, I was. Could you help me out?" Lily asked again.

"Oh, sure, I guess," said James, smiling.

"Oh, shut up, lover boy!" whispered Sirius into James ear.

Ignoring him, James went on, "All you have to do is walk through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Then you'll be at 9 ¾."

"Wait, hold on a sec. Did you say I have to, quote, and unquote, "walk through the barrier"?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, that's what he said. Don't worry, if you end up slamming into it and guts splash out, we'll clean it up," said Sirius evilly. He was starting to get annoyed about the fact that James was actually acting decent for a change.

"How can you walk through a barrier?" asked Lily, who was still so stunned that she wouldn't let things move forward; she was stuck on walking through a brick wall.

"It isn't really solid. You can walk through. It just seems solid so that the Muggles wont' notice. Okay, are you happy now?" said Sirius. Suddenly realizing that he had offended her by speaking directly about Muggles, he quickly said sorry and turned away.

"So, I just walk through? And I'll be on the platform?" Lily asked again.

"You might want to run through, if you're worried," said James. He was starting to act like a big brother for her, and for some reason, he quite enjoyed it.

"Well, here goes." And with that, Lily started running towards it. When she was just about two feet away from impact, she shut her eyes tight. _Okay, here it comes. I'm going to crash against the wall and all my guts will splash out, as Sirius said. And then they'll have to send Harry to Mums for me, so that they'll know that that stupid idiot James is the cause of my painful death. Well, at least Petunia will be happy. And Sirius should too; he doesn't seem to like me much. And I guess James doesn't either, or else he would have told me the truth… And… why am I not crashing into the stupid wall? But, at that very moment, she couldn't run any more. She wasn't able to move at all. Then suddenly, a loud train whistle echoed through her eyes. Opening her eyes with a jerk, she saw red. Thinking that she must have died and been sent to Hell, she looked around. She wasn't in Hell, she was on Platform 9 ¾. She did it! Looking back to what she was facing, she saw that it was the school train. The words 'Hogwarts Express' were written across its side in gold lettering. She guessed that she actually owed James and Sirius a favor. __Yes, I owe one to Sirius too. He was just trying to make me hurry up. Maybe I should go and thank them. Where are they?_

Neither of the boys were anywhere in sight. The platform was crowded with hundreds of people, all, no doubt, waiting to board the train. Looking around and around, Lily soon got dizzy and sat down on one of the benches that lined the platform. Suddenly, she heard a familiar laugh ring through her ears. Looking in the direction from which it came, she saw James and Sirius standing with a man with black hair who looked like Sirius, and therefore could only be Mr. Black, Sirius' father. Walking over to them shyly, she cleared her throat. As James and Sirius spun around to face her, and Mr. Black looked up at her, she began to thank them.

"I just thought I should thank you for telling me how –" she began.

"So, made it alive did you?" asked Sirius nastily.

"Well, yes I did, actually, which is why I wanted to –" she tried again, but once more, she was interrupted.

"Shut it, you. So, Miss… Evans is it?" asked James. He realized for the first time that although Lily knew their names, they had never been really introduced to her.

"Yes, my real name is Liliane," she shuddered when she said it out loud, "but you can call me Lily, Mr. Potter," she added with one of her smiles that showed her perfectly straight white teeth.

"Oh yeah, she's a REAL comedian, alright," Sirius said half aside.

"Well, Lili_ane, this is Mr. Black, Sirius' dad,"_

"Oh, well, hi, Mr. Black," said Lily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I'm hoping that you'll keep these two rascals from getting into trouble, maybe with your influence they'll be good and won't play any pranks," he answered.

Sirius looked up at his dad in disbelief. _How can my __dad be favoring her over me__? Something was definitely wrong. As he looked back at his dad, there was a twinkle in his eye that had never been there before._

"Okay, whatever you say, Mr. Black," said Lily with a slightly perplexed tone of voice. Now, Sirius looked at her in disbelief.

 "Well, I guess that I'd better board the train," said Lily. As she turned to go, however, James called her back.

"You can sit with us if you want. I mean, I doubt you really know anyone, so sit with us," said James. Now it was his turn to be stared at.

"What's that? Oh, no, it's alright," said Lily. She felt herself blushing at being asked to sit with a _boy. Normally, girls didn't even ask her to sit with them, though that was probably because of her sister. They had always been in the same school up till now._

"Besides," she added, this time glaring, "I'm sure _he doesn't want me to sit with you two." She stared pointedly at Sirius, who stared just as determinedly back._

Mr. Black noticed this, and decided that he would be better off leaving than staying and getting involved with their heated argument that was about to begin. "Well, boys, I'd better get going. Sirius, James, have a good school year. Miss Evans, it has been a pleasure meeting you." meeting you." He turned and Disapparated. This greatly surprised Lily, who didn't know about Disapparating.

"Well, we'd better board the train,"   said James, as he tried to ease the tension. Sirius was laughing at the expression Lily had when she had seen Mr. Black vanish into thin air. If looks could kill, Sirius would have gone through every single life he had been given. Lily agreed to join them, and they all boarded the train together.

"Besides, I _do have to get onto the same train as him, anyway, so I might as well do it before I get too late," as Lily said._

They walked along the aisle, searching for an empty compartment. Lily noticed heads poking out, and whispers following her.

"Who's that girl with Potter?" "Is that Potter's new girlfriend?" "That girl is actually friends with Black and _Potter?"_

It seemed as though 'Black and Potter' were the stars of the school. She could only wonder why they were so popular. When they finally found an empty compartment, Lily carefully placed her suitcase on the luggage rack, whereas Sirius and James just tossed them up, not caring whether or not they landed upside down or at the very edge. Lily sat at the very corner, as far away from Sirius as was possible. He pretended not to notice, and started to deal out some cards. Lily looked away, uninterested, but was soon watching them play as attentively as though she herself was playing. She was well acquainted with the Muggle version of the game 'Snap', but the wizarding version, 'Exploding Snap', was much different and more exciting due to the fact that the cards might blow up at any second. Both James and Sirius noticed this, but while James just smiled at her, Sirius was about to make a rude remark. Lucky for Lily, a tall boy with mud-brown hair opened the door, and asked to sit with them.

"Oh, of course you can, mate!" Sirius said, warmly. This slightly surprised Lily, and made her feel a little unwanted, but she didn't let it show.

"Thanks…" he said, a look of relief spreading over his face. Lily noticed that he seemed to be a lot older than the rest of them. "By the way, my name is Remus Lupin," he said. His voice was different from what Lily's perception of a male voice was. It wasn't as brash as Sirius', nor was it as genial and fun loving as James'. It was more of a warm, welcoming voice, and Lily couldn't help but like him at first sight.

"Well, sit down, Remus old pal," said Sirius, patting the seat next to him. "My name's Sirius Black, and this here is Jam –" Sirius tried to introduce himself, but Remus cut in.

"Don't tell me. I know. (A/N: That's a line from a song, isn't it?) This is James Potter, isn't it? Nearly the whole train's been talking about him. And your name is?" he asked, turning to Lily, who felt slightly giddy under his gaze.

"My name is _Lily Evans, not Liliane Potter. And I'm __not Potter's girlfriend," she said. The words had come out rather harsh, even though Lily hadn't meant them to sound rude. She had merely wanted to introduce herself before Sirius got a chance to._

"Oh, okay, I never thought you were, anyway," Remus said, confusedly. Sirius just grinned. Even James couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I'm not. What am I supposed to say? If I didn't say that I wasn't, Sirius probably would have said it anyway," Lily said in self-defense. This time, Remus understood and he started to laugh, too. Lily felt slightly hurt. There she was, an eleven-year-old girl amidst three boys, and all three were laughing at her. _Wait a minute, why am __I the only girl here? This is getting weird… Lily had just realized that she was the only girl, and she started to feel slightly awkward._

James noticed the uneasy look on her face, and smiled at her. When she tried to smile back, for some reason, the muscles didn't do it properly and instead forced her face into a look of disgust. This surprised him, and he quickly turned back to Sirius and Remus.

"Aren't you a lot older than most first years? I mean, this is your first year here, right?" asked Sirius. Apparently, he too had noticed that Remus was at least a year older than the other three. Obviously, Sirius was a lot smarter than he looked.

"What? Well, yeah, I'm in first year. I'm not… older… well, I guess I am, I mean I'm nearly twelve, but not for any _particular reason. I mean I wasn't held back or anything…" Remus said, trying to avoid a direct answer. He looked slightly worried, and was watching the two boys very carefully. They, however, took his answer for granted and went back to their game. (A/N: He's older because none of the other headmasters would accept him because he's a werewolf. Just thought I'd mention that in case you forgot.)_

Lily just sat, winding her hair around her fingers, wondering, just wondering, if she might have accidentally been accepted in an all-boys-school.

_No, that's nonsense. Why would I have been accepted in a school for guys? It's not like my name can deceive anyone. There has to be another girl on this train somewhere… I just have to find her. But that would be mean. These two, or really only James, invited me to be here, and leaving would be like abandoning them. Not that Sirius would mind, nor Remus, I guess, since he doesn't know me, but I feel kind of guilty thinking like this. _

James was also thinking something similar. _She's probably uncomfortable because she's the only girl here… Then why doesn't she go and find someone… probably because I asked her to come. But she seems nice, I guess we just need to get to know her a bit better, that's all. _

_This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought. These two, Sirius and James, they seem to be smart enough to track me down and find out who I really am… and what__ I really am… I hope they won't, I have never had friends in my life, and these two just may the friends I need… Maybe even that girl, what's her name? Lily, that's it. She seems likable enough, but is she trustable? __ Remus was also deep in thought._

And here's Sirius' brain wave… _Oh, I'm the king of the monkeys all, the jungle VIP. I've reached the top and had to stop, and that's what's been bothering me. Now, give us the power… of man's red flower… so I can be like you! Ooh… I want to be like you-oo-oo. I want to walk like you, talk like you, too-oo-oo. Oh, can't you see-ee-ee, an ape like me-ee-ee, can learn to be hu-oo-man, too-oo-oo! His thoughts were a little shortsighted, except when it came to songs._

James and Sirius went back to their game, with Remus watching carefully, thinking these thoughts. But, the door crashing open, wildly, interrupted them again.

"Help, someone help me!" A short, squat boy, with a bit too much 'puppy-fat', waddled through the door, apparently running from someone.

"Look at the idiot! He's running to find his mommy! What a jerk!" two voices trailed through the open door.

James and Sirius both got up, in hope of a fight. James may be nice to girls, but Sirius knew that usually it was only if he expected them to swoon over him, or instead because he thought them to be weak. With other guys, he was much different. Sirius, on the other hand, went through girls like toilet paper without having to be nice to them. And, like James, he loved to pick a fight, especially with someone he disliked.

Remus was with the boy who had waddled in, trying to make him calm down. But he didn't have much of a chance, for soon the boys who had been taunting him walked in.

"Aw… how cute. The git is helping out the fatso. Now isn't that interesting," said one of the boys. He had silvery blonde hair, which was just a bit too long for a boy, and hazel eyes that were constantly taking in every move in the room. His eyes fell on Lily, and he scowled. Lily once more felt uneasy, but all the same she stared back determinedly.

Remus stared at him, malice in his eyes. He knew this blonde boy. His name was Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, and he was the dirtiest, darkest kid there ever was. James and Sirius, however, were staring at the other boy. He was none other than the boy who they had met in Diagon Alley.

"Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy, at your service if you ever need disposal of – impurities," said the boy from Diagon Alley. 

"What do you want?" James spat at the two of them.

"Nothing, my friend, but that piece of filth sitting across from you," Snape said, staring pointedly at Lily with a look closely resembling hate. At his words, however, Lily had understood what he meant. Wasn't this what the man in Flourish and Blotts was talking about? Weren't these the kind of people who had gone over to the Dark Side, and who hated Muggles?

"Come now, little Mudblood, don't you want to have some fun? You won't get any around these slim –" Malfoy began, but he was cut off, for Lily had walked up to him and slapped him across the face. All seven of them, Lily included, were surprised at what she had done. But Lily continued just the same. (A/N: Looks like the Malfoys have a reputation for being slapped across the face by Muggle-born witches, doesn't it?)

"Don't you _dare insult me and my – my – my friends, got that? Now get out, before we all hurt you!" she shouted. The two of them walked slowly away, Snape with a look of fear on his face, and Malfoy with his hand still rubbing his cheek, where a red mark in the shape of Lily's hand was starting to appear._

"Lily, are you okay?" asked Remus unsurely.

"Yes, at least I think I am. It's just that those two just made me so _mad! I didn't know what made me smack him, though. I guess I shouldn't have, it's just, neither of them had any right to say such things!" she said angrily. Sirius was pretty impressed._

"Look, Lily, I think that we, that is, I misjudged you. You aren't a wimp, you aren't a coward, you're a real, a real… you're a pretty good slapper. I can tell you that," he said, at a loss for words.

Lily smiled. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to trust him, but she could tell that coming from him, that was to be regarded as a compliment. But she still had a question to ask the three of them.

"What _is a Mudblood, anyway?" she asked. All three of their faces looked sour the moment she had asked her question._

"It's as bad as a swear word, I can tell you that much. It's a, a cruel, an _evil name for a Muggle-born witch or wizard. __Mudblood, basically it means Muggle-born witches and wizards have, well, impure blood, dirty blood, stuff like that. We should have guessed that was what he was getting at when they said they were going to get rid of impurities," said Remus. Sirius and James just sat quietly. They suddenly realized the cause for the interruption. The boy who had been chased in was sitting in the corner of the compartment, whimpering._

"Hey, buddy, you don't have to be scared. They can't do anything, much. Don't worry; I'm sure Lily will take care of _all of us, right Lily?" Sirius said. Towards the end of his consolation he had started grinning at her, and as a result, she threw the first thing she could get her hands on at him, which turned out to be Remus' backpack._

"Hey, what was that for?" yelled James. Lily didn't seem to have very good aim, at least not when it came to chucking backpacks around. Lily just grinned, until he threw it back at her. This time, it hit the right target, and Lily again threw it at Sirius. Her aim wasn't getting any better, though.

"Hey, guys stop it!" yelled the boy, for this time it was he who was hit.

"Oops, sorry about that, I didn't mean to hit you. I was aiming for Sirius," Lily explained.

"Aiming, you were actually _aiming? My sister can throw better than you!" said Sirius, laughing_

Lily just ignored him. "So, what's your name, anyway?" she asked the boy.

"Peter Paden Pettigrew, but everyone just calls me Peter," he said dully.

"Peter, is it? That's a nice name," said Lily. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from London, just like the rest of you. Isn't that obvious?" he said, staring at her curiously.

"Oh, yeah, you're right. Do you like… your house…? Oh, never mind what I said," Lily gave up. Sirius grinned. She was running out of nice things to say.

"Hey, Peter, want to play a game of Exploding Snap? We were just going to start a new game. Remus, you join in too. Lily?" James went around the room.

"No, I think I'd rather not play," Lily said. What was it with these boys and cards? _At least they aren't gambling… she thought. She went back to looking out of the window._

Then, the door slammed open, once more.

"Man, next time you guys come in, can't you open the door quietly?" asked Sirius angrily.

"I'm not a _man, mister. I'm a woman, in case you didn't notice," said the girl who had walked through the door. Lily's first thought was how similar Sirius and this girl were. They both had the same insulting attitude, and both were quick at giving responses. But Lily quickly dismissed those thoughts; looking at the friction between them she knew nothing would every happen between them but hatred, and she didn't want to be the one to make sparks fly._

"Who are you, anyway? And why did you come here in the first place?" asked Sirius.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you, Mr. Black. And isn't this train going to Hogwarts? Or did I get on the train meant for mentally disabled people like you?"

"If it is one, then you're in the right place."

"And so are you, Mr. Cheapskate,"

"_Who the bloody hell are you?" yelled Sirius._

"Oh, hi there!" said the girl, spotting Lily. "I was wondering if I could join you guys. You see, everywhere else is full except for the compartment where these stupid gits are sitting discussing Dark Arts and such, and except for all of the empty ones, and I don't want to sit alone. By the way, since you three don't know me, I know very well that James and Sirius do, my name is Sam –" she reeled on, but when she came to her name, Sirius interrupted. He was getting quite a reputation for this kind of thing.

"What, are you named after a guy or something?" he asked.

"My real name's Samantha Rogers, but all of you can call me Sam or Sammy. I _hate the name Samantha. The last time someone called me that I think I knocked them out… but they recovered within a few hours."_

"Samantha _Rogers?" both Sirius and James said at the same time._

"Sam, it can't be you! You're so… different-looking and all," said Sirius, shocked.

"Well, you haven't even seen me since –"

"We haven't seen _each other since we were around five. Where have you been?" James said._

"In case you didn't realize it, I've lived across the street from Sirius ever since the two of us were born. And I've lived across from you ever since you moved onto our street," said Sammy, annoyed that her childhood friends hadn't recognized her.

"Yeah, whatever, but you didn't come and see us. We were there the whole time, too, you know," said Sirius. Lily made a mental note to never try and make the two of them talk to one another, in case they might start trying to murder one another.

"You were to busy with _your friends, you didn't even care about me anymore!" she yelled at him. "Come on, you. What's your name?" she said, realizing that they hadn't been properly introduced._

"Her name's Liliane Pot –" Sirius began, but stopped when he got a whack on the head from James.

"I didn't ask you, you stinking idiot!" Sammy shouted. Lily noticed that there was a slight smile playing on her lips. "Liliane, huh… nice name you have there. It's better than Samantha anyway. But don't you have a nickname or something?" she asked puzzled. She noticed that Lily had a grim look on her face.

"Her name's Lily; she hates being called Liliane like you hate being called Samantha," James explained.

Lily finally cracked. "Excuse me, _boys, but I think I can introduce myself to a __friend on my own, thank you very much," she snapped. "Come on, Sammy, let's __go!" she called angrily to her new friend. Thinking that it would be best to follow unless Lily would show them all a side of her they hadn't seen yet, Sammy quickly followed her through the door. _

_Well, at least I know there are__ other girls here. Lily thought to herself, __even if she knows the guys pretty well, even James. _

"Well, personally, I think the name Lily is much better than Lili_ane," Sammy told her, trying to cheer her up._

They saw that the next compartment was empty and sat down. Lily made sure that the door was shut and then she confronted Sammy.

"Do you know them, somehow?" she asked suspiciously.

"Do I know who? Are you talking about Potter and Black? Well, yeah, I know Sirius because he lives across the street from me. I think we sued to be friends when we were, like, three but ever since James moved next door to him he's become this… oh, I don't know, like a sneaky little rat," she said.

"Well, he still acts like that. Only, Sirius isn't little, mind you," said Lily without thinking. This made Sammy laugh.

"But really, I don't know what James has done to him. I'm just happy he doesn't support the Dark Side. If he did, I wouldn't even step into the same _building as him," she said._

"You mean the Dark Lord, and his gang? Everyone seems to call him You-Know-Who, and stuff like that. Why, though?" she asked.

Sammy just stared. "Well, it's be – because of a – all he – he's done," she said stuttering. But her stuttering wasn't due to her fear of Voldemort; it was due the fact that the train had finally started. There had been some sort of delay. "It's alright, though, I guess," she carried on, "I mean, you can say his name. It's not like it's a swearword or something, even though a lot of people consider it as one."

"Why, is there something wrong with his name itself? I mean, it can't be that bad, can it?" she asked. "Wouldn't it get really confusing, what with all the You-Know-Who's, how would you know who someone was speaking about?" 

"Well, many people are so scared that they can't call him by his name, so instead the y call him either the Dark Lord, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or just You-Know-Who. No one else would really be called by such names, so it stays pretty simple," she said matter-of-factly. But Lily still hadn't had her question answered.

"Why's everyone so scared? What's Voldemort done to get such a bad reputation? All I know is that he's abused a lot of Muggles," said Lily.

So, finally, Sammy started explaining all about Voldemort and all the Muggles he had killed. She explained about dementors, the soul-sucking fiends that were the wardens in Azkaban – the Wizarding prison, about Voldemort's Dark Mark, Death Eaters – Voldemort's followers, and any other relative fact she could think of. By the time she had finished, Lily was wide-eyed with shock, and her mouth was half-open. She felt ready to scream at the slightest movement, and felt that Voldemort might suddenly Apparate in their very compartment.

Unfortunately for her, two girls decided to open their door at that very moment, causing Lily to scream at the top of her voice.

In the next compartment, the boys heard her, and ran to her rescue… not that it was really needed.

"Don't – ever – do – that – again!" Lily said, gasping for breath.

"Oh, dear, sorry we scared you like that. We were just looking for some company, that's all. Hey, Sammy, how're you doing? I didn't know you were going to Hogwarts this year! What happened to Beauxbatons?" said a tall girl with shoulder-length black hair, and eyes so dark they looked black. Lily liked the look of her. Her dark eyes had a sparkle in them, and her voice was playful.

"Hi, Pooja, guess what? My dad got a transfer. He's staying here for a while, so I get to go to Hogwarts! Who's that you've got with you?" Sammy said excitedly. Apparently, Sammy knew this Indian girl, Pooja, as well. Lily was starting to think that Sammy had known everyone who was going to Hogwarts except for her.

"This is Suzanne. She's from the 'land of the free', as she calls it. I tried to tell her that both India and England are free countries too, but will she listen?" said Pooja good-naturedly.

"Oh, come on, that's not what I said! I just said that I came from the US, and she goes blowing my words out of proportion!" said Suzanne. It took Sammy and Lily a while to understand, for Suzanne's accent was nothing like they had ever heard before, and it didn't help them that her speed of talking was like that of a jet plane.

"So who's your new friend, Sammers?" Pooja asked, indicating that they hadn't been introduced to Lily yet.

"_Don't call me Sammers, okay? You can call me Sam or Sammy, but not Sammers. What kind of a name is that, anyway?" Sammy asked._

"It's a better name than Sam, I can tell you that much. Doesn't anyone ever think you're a boy? I mean you are such a tomboy. You know, I've never seen you wear a dress or even a skirt!" said Pooja. Lily felt like saying 'Look who's talking!', since Pooja herself was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but restrained herself due to the fact that she didn't feel it would be making a good impression, especially since she hadn't been introduced to them yet.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Pooja. Anyway, this is –" she began, but this time, their door was flung open.

"Lily, are you okay? What happened? Who screamed?" James said as he walked through their door, followed by Remus, Sirius, and a scared Peter. It had taken them a while to find the girls' compartment. They hadn't expected them to be next-door to them.

For some reason, this infuriated Lily, who snapped at them. Pooja and Suzanne were shocked at her sudden outburst, whereas Sammy and the boys were indifferent. James, on the other hand, was taken aback. If he had known he would have been yelled at, he probably wouldn't have bothered worrying about her.

"What is with you boys? Can't you just leave me be? You're always turning up either to insult me or to ask if I'm okay! Just leave me alone, from now on!" she shouted at them. This time, everyone was in shock. Even Lily hadn't expected such harsh words to come out of her mouth. For a minute, it was completely silent. Then, James spoke, in a voice so full of spite that they wounded her deeply, as though his words were arrows piercing her heart.

"Fine, then, if that's what you want. We just came here because our unnecessary sympathy got the better of us. For a moment, just a moment, I thought that you could have been one of us, as good as a guy. Apparently, I was wrong. You're no better than your sissy girl friends. Come on, guys. Let's go. We should have known our concern wouldn't have been appreciated. Let's go before we get criticized any further." He walked out, followed by Sirius, Remus, and a whimpering Peter. Sirius and Remus kept shooting furtive glances at James as they walked out, but his face was set.

Lily just sat in her seat, frozen. She hadn't expected him to burst out like that. True, it was partially her fault; they had only come because they were worried about her, but it was annoying to have four big brothers running after her when she didn't even know them well. To her friends, she looked close to tears, and only snapped back to reality when her friends called her name.

"What, yeah, I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be? It's not like _Potter_ means anything to me. I've only known him for, like, the last forty-five minutes, anyway. So, Sammy, weren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" said Lily, trying her best to sound happy and cheerful. Her eyes, however, gave her real feelings away.

Sammy raised an eyebrow at her, but when Lily didn't respond, she proceeded to introduce the three girls to one another. All four were instant friends, and amid the chattering and happiness, James' harsh words and thoughts of Voldemort vanished completely from their minds.

*

 "Anything to eat, dears?" asked a wizened witch who had just walked into their compartment, pushing along a cart, no doubt carrying food, rather like a flight attendant would. 

"Can I have a salad?" asked Lily. The witch just stared. Feeling as though she had said something wrong, she asked again. "Or can I have a cheese pizza?"

Again, the witch only stared. When she finally spoke, her words were confused and slightly strong, as though she had thought that Lily was trying to joke with her. "I don't got no food like that. Why don't you look at what I do got and then choose?" she said.

Puzzled, Lily walked up to the cart, and her eyes widened with surprise. She had expected to see mashed potatoes, pancakes, and sandwiches at the very least, these being what she had at her school cafeteria. Instead, the cart was filled with all sorts of things that she had never heard of before. Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and all sorts of other candies were present.

"Wow, I've never seen food and candy like this before. Those aren't _real_ frogs, are they? Well, just to be safe, I'll have some cakes and jelly beans. I mean, some _Cauldron_ Cakes, and some of the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," she said. She wasn't sure if she was confusing the old lady, who didn't seem to comprehend very well.

"Ay, you could then, couldn't you? Here take all this, and it'll cost you ten sickles. All you others, don't y'all want nothing?" said the lady.

Lily felt slightly intimidated by the witch, for the tone of voice she used was gruff and harsh. The other three girls got their snacks and sat back down, eager to be rid of the strange witch.

"Is it just me, or was that witch just a tad bit… weird?" asked Suzanne as soon as she had left. Everyone murmured their agreement.

"You know, we'd better change into our school uniforms now. We're probably going to reach Hogwarts pretty soon," said Pooja. She seemed to Lily to be the most serious of the lot, always making factual statements and suggestions rather than joking around a lot.

"Yeah, guys, she's right, you know. We'd better change," Sammy agreed.

So the four decided to change. Luckily, they hadn't gotten very far, for soon, the door opened once more, to expel the least-wanted person at that point of time.

"James Potter, what do you think you're doing?" yelled Sammy. All four girls turned to the door and stared in shock at the face that had appeared.

"Sorry if I disturbed you," he said maliciously. Almost immediately, however, his expression dropped, and his eyes looked straight down, as though he had suddenly become very interested in his red shoelaces. "I was wondering if… if… if you'd meet me after the feast in the Great Hall, Lily. I need to… to talk to you… about something," he said slowly. Lily looked at him, raising an eyebrow so high that her bangs nearly covered it, but she agreed.

When he left, the girls made sure that the door was locked and the curtains closed before they began to change. Suzanne was inclined to tease Lily that the 'famous' James Potter had asked for a private meeting with her but seeing that no one else thought that it was funny, she desisted.

*

"So, what happened in there?" asked Remus. James was back in his compartment, and the other boys were bombarding him with questions.

"I told you, she said she'd meet me after the feast. I just wish I knew what people actually _do_ after the feast. I mean, we can't have classes at nine at night, can we?" James responded.

"Why do you want to meet her, anyway?" asked Peter curiously. After talking with him a lot, they had found him to be a rather nosy and gossipy person, as sneaky as a rat. (A/N: No pun intended, of course!) This, however, didn't daunt the boys at all; on the contrary, Sirius had said that his sneakiness would help him with his plan. None of the others knew what his plan was, but James recognized the mischievous glint in his eye, and knew, that whatever his best friend was planning, it was bound to be good.

"I just want to ask her something, that's all. Okay, and I guess I want to say sorry for walking out on her like that," he said guiltily.

"She deserved it," said Sirius shortly.

"Yeah, James, Sirius is right. It's not your fault that's she's being a git," said Remus.

"Lily's just got a major attitude problem, and it's up to us to fix it," said Peter.

James looked around, surprised. "You're saying that you all actually _hate_ her? Remus, I thought you said she was funny. Peter, she practically _saved_ you from those Death-Eater wannabes… and Sirius… Sirius didn't you yourself saying that you had misjudged her? After all that, you three are saying that you hate her? Asked James disbelievingly.

They voiced the fact that they didn't hate her but that they would like to get her back.

"Oh, good, that's good news," James replied, relieved.

"Why don't you want us to hate her? I probably could if she made me mad enough to want to. Do you like her?" Sirius said the last line with a huge grin on his face.

"Are you crazy? Sure, she's probably the coolest girl I know, besides you, Sirius, just kidding! But really, she could be a really good friend of ours, I mean, she seems pretty smart and all, but I don't like her much yet. I think that it would be fun to prank her," said James.

"Great, we can use the magic we learn to do some really cool things," said Remus excitedly.

"Well, what else did you think I would plan? Did you want us to dress up and plan a makeover session for them?" said Sirius smirking.

"This was your plan?" asked James unsurely. Sirius nodded an answer. "It's perfect! Remus can do all of the important magic word, Peter can help us by getting some 'important information' from the girls, Sirius can plan it because he's the on who came up with the idea…"

"And what are you going to do? Sit around and watch?" asked Peter.

"I'll be in charge. I don't mind getting into trouble much, and I don't think Sirius does either, so we can do all the actual work. What's our first prank going to be?" James said, as excitedly as Remus. His smile faded slightly when he saw the evil grins that had appeared on the faces of Remus and Sirius. Peter was lightly puzzled.

"You'll find out in good time, James, in good time," said Sirius. And with a jerk, the train stopped, and the boys and girls left with their luggage, slightly nervous, slightly anxious, to begin their first year at Hogwarts.

*

Well, I hope you all like this chapter. I think it's longer than the other ones… So, please read and review!

Thanks especially to Sacred Dream, Snoopy511, and Sarcasm Queen! You guys are my inspiration for this story! Please keep telling me how I should do, and please keep updating your stories too!


	7. The Feast and the First Night

A/N: Thank for all the wonderful reviews! I hope that I get a bunch for this chapter too. Okay, I'll shut up now.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Most of the characters belong to J. K. Rowling, but I own the plot and a few of the characters, like Lily's friends.**

*

It was chaos. Everyone seemed to be trying to go everywhere at the same time. Suddenly, a voice broke through all the commotion, making Lily jump.

"Firs' years, come on over he' y'all! This way, all ye firs' years, foller me!" boomed the voice.

"Come on, Lils, what are you waiting for?" Suzanne called back to her. They seemed unfazed about the sudden shout.

"Yeah, hold on, I'm coming. What about our trunks, though?" asked Lily, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Don't worry about them now; they'll be taken up to the school separately. Now come _on or we won't make it to the castle with rest of the first years," said Suzanne anxiously. This was not the time to worry about trivial things. There were things more important at stake. __What might people say if we turn up late at the feast. __Now that would be embarrassing. Suzanne thought to herself._

"Oh, alright, I'm coming," said Lily, and heard someone else say the same thing at the same time. Turning her head, she saw that it was none other than James Potter. Apparently, he was lagging behind also. _Great… just what I need: to be left behind with James Potter. She thought miserably. But she smiled nonetheless, and followed Suzanne to where the others were already waiting. They were in a group of other first years and a man._

However, this was no ordinary man; this man was, well, gigantic. If Lily hadn't read in one of her textbooks that giants had fled to the mountains of Russia, she would have thought that she was seeing one for the first time. His hands were the size of trashcan lids, and his shoes were about as big as her trunk. 

"Come on, hurry it up over there," called the man to some others. Lily was pleased to see that it was the 'famous' James and his gang who had turned up late.

"Is that ev'ryone? Okay then, all o' ye got to foller me. I'm a-gonna take ye to the castle, for the feast. Come on then, foller me y'all," he said. "Oh, and my name's Hagrid," he added, as he led them through a winding path.

"Where are we going?" said a girl with blonde hair. Looking at her, James thought that she was pretty, but when she spied him she wrinkled up her nose, making her look like a bulldog, what with all the wrinkles that had appeared on her face. He turned around quickly. What was happening to all the girls he met that day?

"We're going to the castle, like I told y'all. It's Hogwarts tradition for the firs' years to go there by boat, through the secret entrance. Ev'ryone else goes the normal way, by carriage," said Hagrid. They walked for a bit more until they came upon a large, still lake. Lily couldn't believe her eyes, and her mouth was wide open with surprise. She had never seen anything so beautiful, nor so peaceful. She hated the thought of riding a boat on it; she didn't want to ruin the tranquility of the still lake. Yet, she had to get to the castle, for she was starting to feel slightly hungry. Cakes and jellybeans don't make a very filling lunch.

"Alright, y'all, now get into the boats. It's only ten per boat, mind ye," he said.

"Come on, Pooja, let's get a boat of our own, if we can," called out Sammy happily. They went to the farthest of the boats and sat down at the very back. Unfortunately, Lily was the last of them to get in, so she was forced to sit in front of them. To make matters worse, she was followed in by James Potter, who sat next to her.

"Hi, Lils… mind if I sit here?" he said, trying to be friendly.

"Not at all, I don't even mind if you call me by the nickname that only my _friends use, after all, a friend __is a friend," she muttered sarcastically to herself. But James heard her anyway._

"Gee, I didn't think we were friends yet," he said back, a grin on his face. Things weren't working out as Lily had thought they would. Behind her, her _real friends were giggling. But, Lily didn't pay attention to them, for Sirius, Remus, and Peter had come to find their friend. Grinning at him, they sat at the front of the boat instead of with him. __Thank god… for a minute I thought they'd sit next to Potter. At least he might go near them now. Lily thought to herself. But he didn't get up. Instead, she ended up flying out into the lake._

Sirius had decided to jump in rather than get in normally, and the rocking back and forth of the boat that he had caused forced Lily to fly out into the water. Fortunately, the water was not shallow so she didn't get hurt. But she was still surprised.

"HELP, someone _help me! I can't swim that well! Someone, please __help me!" she shouted. She was a foot from the boat, but, like she said, she wasn't the best swimmer in the world, and for that reason all she was able to do was splash around trying to stay above the water for as long as possible. Soon enough, she felt a strong hold on her arm that yanked her upwards and into the boat. The force of the pull caused her to bump into her rescuer, and instead of backing off, she clutched them tightly._

"Um, Lily, do you mind if you… let go now?" James said unsurely. Looking up in horror, she saw that her rescuer was James Potter.

"Get away from me, Potter!" she snapped. She knew that she was the one that had been holding onto him, but all the same, she wasn't cherishing the moment. She knew that sooner or later, hopefully later, she would have to acknowledge the fact that he had saved her, but now wasn't the time.

"Jeez sorry, Lily, I didn't know you could be so feisty. You were the one who was clinging on to me," said James defensively. But his voice betrayed the fact that he had, no matter how slightly, enjoyed it.

"Forget it…," said Lily. She didn't want to argue. She was too hungry for that, not to mention cold. She shivered unconsciously.

"Are you cold?" James asked. "I could give you my cloak if you want."

_There he is again. He's acting like my big brother once more. Can't he tell that one older sibling is enough? Out loud, Lily said, "No thanks, Potter, I enjoy shivering from the bitter cold."_

"Hey, James, why don't you sit up here with us?" called Sirius. It appeared to Lily that he had only said that to wink at James, for as soon as he had turned around, he had done just that.

"Al- no, it's too late now," James, replied, for two girls who had not been able to sit in any of the other boats had sat down in the few seats in between.

"Hi, Jamesie, what're you doing?" asked one of the girls as she turned around in her seat.

"Oh, just having some fun with my 'good friend' Lily," he replied, nudging Lily playfully. Lily couldn't help but smile, not at James, but at the reaction of the girl. She had almost immediately stuck her nose in the air and turned back around with a small 'humph' of disapproval. James certainly knew how to get rid of annoying people. _Just as he got rid of you too, she reminded herself._

"Is ev'ryone in? Then let's go… forward!" yelled Hagrid. He had a boat to himself. Lily had barely enough time to wonder how they were going to row, when the boats started to move on their own. Lily sighed inwardly. She wasn't prepared to make a fool of herself trying to row in front of James. Sighing again, this time out loud, she sat back and watched the surrounding scenery, on her way to the castle.

*

"I can't believe you're making me do this," James whispered in Remus' ear. (A/N: I just realized that Peter is the only one of the Marauders whose name doesn't end in s… isn't that weird?)

"Calm down, James. The way you were talking to her on the boat, it was like you really did like her!" Remus laughed softly.

"If Sirius hadn't thrown in ten galleons as a bet that I couldn't do this, I wouldn't!" James said, loud enough to be getting awkward stares from some of the other students.

They had walked into the castle, following Hagrid, and had been led to a small room off of the Great Hall, which they could see through the giant double doors that were standing there. Here, they had talked with the stiff lady who had sent them their letters, Professor Orenstein. They later found out that she was the teacher for Care of Magical Creatures. She had told them that they were to be 'sorted' into Houses as soon as they were summoned.

"Come now, children. It is time for the Sorting to begin," she called in a minute. The first years gulped nervously and followed her.

They walked into a room so large, that Lily was sure that her whole house would fit comfortably inside it. Looking up, she saw billions of shining white dotting the velvety blue ceiling.

"The enchanted ceiling…," she murmured to herself.

"What?" Pooja asked.

"The ceiling, it's enchanted to look like the sky outside," Lily replied.

The girls and boys followed obediently until they reached the front of the room where the teachers' table was. Then, they turned around to face the rest of the school. There were four long tables, one for each of the Houses, just as the Professor had told them. She looked to the table on one end, above which a large red flag with gold lining and a lion was hanging. _That must be the Gryffindor table. And that's the one for Ravenclaw, and then Hufflepuff. And that, that must be Slytherin, Lily thought. She knew the house flags from her book._

Everyone was staring at the hat, and in a minute, it became clear why. A tear near the brim burst open wide and it started to sing, much to the surprise of many first years. Lily smiled when she saw that James was just as surprised as she was.

"When I call your name, please step forward, sit on this stool, and put the hat on," called Professor Orenstein from her place. She was holding a long scroll of parchment.

"Adieus, Robert!"

Robert Adieus stepped forward and tried on the hat. It seemed to Lily that he had to sit on the stool for an extremely long time before the hat called out that he was a Ravenclaw.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius went reluctantly up the hat, his skin pale. He smiled weakly when he saw the wink he got from James, but that didn't stop him from knocking over the stool when he tried and sit on it. The whole school burst into laughter, and Sirius, being the good sport he was, laughed too. But Lily saw the pained look in his eyes when he finally sat the right way. But he cheered up tremendously when the hat pronounced him to be the first Gryffindor.

"Oh no, _I wanted to be in Gryffindor! Now I'll be stuck with __him!" exclaimed Sammy. The other three told her to calm down. A few more boys and girls went – some of them Hufflepuffs, other Gryffindors, a few Ravenclaws, and a couple Slytherins – and then Lily's name was called._

"Evans, Liliane!" called the professor. Lily, who wasn't used to being called Liliane, stood puzzled, until her friends told her that it was her turn. She glared at the professor, but went to the stool and put on the hat. It went down over her eyes, so that she was staring at the inside of the hat.

_Well, well, well, he's a clever mind. But you're certainly one who likes to stand up for herself. Now, what am I going to do with you? I'm sure Ravenclaw would suit you well, but what to do with all that courage? Hufflepuff would also do nicely and Slytherin would help you to get known… Ah, Gryffindor would be just perfect, wouldn't it?_

Lily looked around her, trying to see where the voice was coming from. It occurred to her that it was none other than the hat talking. Apparently, it could read her mind, for as soon as she said she thought to herself that she wanted to be in Gryffindor, it shouted it out loud to the rest of the school. Lily got up amid gales of laughter and screaming, and went off to join the Gryffindor table. Soon, it was Pooja's turn.

"Kamala, Pooja!" she shouted.

"Please let her be in Gryffindor. Please let her be in Gryffindor. Please let her be in Gryffindor," Lily chanted over and over again. Across from her, Sirius said, "What in the devil's name are you doing?"

"What, do you think I want to be stuck with _you for the whole year?" asked Lily sardonically._

Sirius rolled his eyes and went back to watching. Luckily, Pooja was also a Gryffindor. A few more girls and boys came, including Remus and Peter, who had also been pronounced as Gryffindors, and then it was James' turn. 

"Please don't let him be a Gryffindor. Please don't let him be a Gryffindor. Please don't let him be a Gryffindor."

"Quit it with the chanting, already!" Sirius begged her. "You're driving me nuts!"

This time, however, Lily's chanting didn't help her.

_Oh my, I don't think I've ever seen such a brave brain before. And you certainly are smart, and mischievous too, yes you are! Ravenclaw would be too childish for you; I think you should be in GRYFFINDOR! The hat said the last word out to the whole school. Grinning happily, James went and joined Sirius, Lily, Remus, and Pooja at the Gryffindor table. Finally, Professor Orenstein reached the R's._

"Come on Sammy! You've got to be with us, you've just _got to!" Lily had taken to cheering instead of chanting. She had decided that using the same thing twice was unlucky, as James had ended up in the same House._

"You certainly are really excited," James whispered in her ear. She ignored him as though she couldn't hear, but she couldn't help realizing that he was sitting next to her again, and that his face was still really close. _Lily, this is James Potter we're talking about... you can't start thinking like this. Get a hold of yourself. _

"Rogers, Samantha!"

Sammy walked forward, smiling at Lily and Pooja, who gave her two thumbs-up signs.

"Please, oh please, oh please let me be with Pooja and Lily, or at least with Suzanne!" Sammy muttered.

Sure enough, she was pronounced a Gryffindor. A look of relief spread over her face. As she went to join her friends, she said, "Oh well, I guess being in Gryffindor comes with a price," while looking at the four boys.

Within another minute, Suzanne, who was the last on the list since her name started with a 'u', had been sorted into Gryffindor as well and the stool, hat, and parchment had been cleared away. The man at the very middle of the teachers' table stood up, and Lily saw that his silver hair and beard reached the floor, and that his eyes twinkled like the stars that sparkled on the ceiling.

"Now, I understand that you all must be hungry, but I must fill in some all of you on a few new things that are happening. I must reinforce the rule that students are not to wander into or near the Forbidden Forest. I also want to mention that our old caretaker has left in order to spend more time with his… family, and therefore, I am happy to introduce Mr. Argus Filch to take over his job," said the headmaster. He clapped loudly, along with the rest of the teachers, but very few students accompanied them. The first years were too shy to do anything, and it seemed as though the old caretaker didn't have a very good reputation if the new one hadn't been given a warm welcome.

"So, without further ado, please eat and be merry!" he said.

"Is he the headmaster?" asked Lily.

"Yep, that's Dumbledore," James replied jovially.

"Dumbledore, huh… what kind of a name is that?" Lily asked.

"Albus Dumbledore is one of the best headmasters this school has ever had. Believe me. His personality and his name are two entirely different things, and that's the case with most situations. You're just an exception," James said, smiling at her.

"So you hate my name too?" Lily asked.

"No… I love it," he said, this time grinning, which caused Suzanne to start choking on her pumpkin juice, and Sirius to wink at him again. Lily just sat puzzled, and decided that it must be some sort of a dare. _Boys always have stupid dares. I bet Sirius dared him to pretend to like me so much, that I'll start liking him back. Yuck, just the thought of such a thing makes me feel sick. Shaking her head, she went back to picking at the vegetables on her plate._

*

"Sirius, I swear, if you make me keep up this jig for more than a week, I am going to _kill you. No, I'll do something worse... I'll tell Evans that __you like her. How's that for a fair trade?" James said, as the four boys got ready for bed._

"A week should be all that's necessary. We're just pranking her, that's all. We're not trying to get her to fall in love with you, though we might be able to if you keep up the 'I love your name which means I – " Sirius started, but stopped when a feather pillow came flying out of nowhere and hit him on the back of the head.

"Shut up, Sirius!" yelled James. Sirius threw the pillow back, which caused them all to start a pillow fight.

"Shut it, you three. I said stop it!" Peter yelled. He was lying in bed, wearing a set of blue pajamas with teddies on them.

"I like your pajamas, Peter," Remus said grinning.

"Thanks, I like yours too," Peter, replied, not sensing the sarcasm. His statement made the other three boys laugh out loud, because all Remus was wearing were a pair of boxers.

"What's so funny?" he asked confused.

"Forget it, Peter. James and Sirius just don't like my pajamas as much as you do," Remus said, which made the two boys laugh even harder.

"Can we just go to sleep, now?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure, Peter, whatever you say," Sirius replied. The three boys got into bed reluctantly, but nevertheless, it was only a minute before they were all asleep.

*

"Potter was _not trying to hit on me!" Lily said defensively._

"He wasn't? I guess I made a terrible mistake," Suzanne said sarcastically. "Oh come on, get real, Lils! Why else would he sit next to you twice in a row and talk to you more than to Sirius and Remus? It makes perfect sense, Lily!"

"Why would he do such a thing? He absolutely hates me! Why else would he have yelled at me like that on the train?" Lily said. But both Sammy and Suzanne noticed that she didn't meet their eyes when she said this, and Lily knew that they had done so. She was as puzzled as her friends were, but she didn't want to admit it. Trying to change the subject, she brought up something else.

"Does anyone else feel as though they deserve to be paid back for that…lecture?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess they do. But don't change the subject, Lily!" said Pooja.

"Just forget about it for a minute. What do you have in mind?" said Sammy.

"I don't –" she started, but Suzanne interrupted her.

"You could pretend to like him back! Then he would ask you out, but you'll play hard to get. Finally, you'll say yes, and then you can dump him! It would work because he already likes you!" she said, proud of her ingenious idea.

"No, that would be torture!" groaned Lily.

"Should we tell him you like him for real?" threatened Pooja. She seemed to agree with whatever Suzanne said.

"That would be _murder!" Lily yelled._

"Then will you do it?" asked Sammy.

"Oh, alright, I'll do the stupid dare. Though I'm sure I'm right and this is just some stupid game they're playing. There's no way Potter would like me." All the same, Lily couldn't help hoping that her friends were right, no matter how much she disagreed, and how much she didn't want to believe it. She went to bed, trying to prepare herself mentally for what she had to do. Little did she know that she would be giving him a taste of his own medicine…

*

A/N: Hope you all like it! Please review as soon as possible!


	8. Arguments and Resolutions

A/N: I just want to say thanks a lot to my reviewers, especially Snoopy511 (Emily) and Sarcasm Queen (Stef)! You guys review every chapter. I hope _everyone likes this one. I'll make it as interesting as I can. I'm sorry if the last one was slightly confusing, but I was trying to write it as fast as I can. Hopefully this one won't be._

*

"You don't want to be late for Herbology, do you?" said Pooja, annoyed.

"I'm coming, hang on. I need to get my bag. Now _where did my DADA book go?" Suzanne said with her hands on her hips._

"Oh, come _on! We're not even going to get any breakfast at this rate!" Lily yelled._

"It's okay, you guys can go ahead. I'm not hungry," Suzanne said, but at that very moment, a loud grumble echoed from her stomach.

"Yeah, right, you're going to miss all the toast, eggs, pumpkin juice, and –" Sammy began, but Suzanne cut her off.

"I found it! Okay, we can go now!" she said happily. The other grinned at one another behind her back, but Lily's faded quickly when she thought of the reputation she had to keep up.

Back in the first year boys' dorm, something slightly similar was taking place.

*

"James, wake up! We're going to miss our first Herbology class! We're already too late for breakfast; at least don't let us get detention in our first week! Come on, James, _wake up!" yelled Remus._

"Please, Mum, just let me sleep for five more minutes," James muttered groggily into his pillow.

"I'm _not your mother! Now get up and be sensible!" Remus yelled again._

"Let's just leave for breakfast without him. No wait, correction: let's leave for our _first period class without him. We're too late for breakfast now," Peter said._

"Hang on, Pete. Hey, Remus, why don't we uh take up the opportunity to polish off our fire charms? Or do you think the water spout works better in situations like this?" Sirius said, grinning.

"No, don't do that! You'll get him all wet, and, boy, will he be mad when he wakes up!" squeaked Peter, half-amused and half-worried. 

"Oh, I say water would work," Remus replied, ignoring Peter. "Are you ready? Then let's do it on the count of three: 1… 2… 3! _Hydrito exploitus!" The last two words were yelled together._

A shower of water poured itself onto the still body that lay on the bed. In a moment, James sat bolt upright spluttering.

"Hey, what was that for? You woke me up from a very good dream!" James coughed.

"We want to make it down at least for lunch! I'm hungry!" Sirius scowled.

"You're always hungry –" James began.

"What were you dreaming about, anyway?" asked Peter curiously.

"Oh, I was just dreaming about how – nothing, I wasn't dreaming…" James said, trying to cover up what he was about to say.

"Yeah, right, you _never dream… especially about __Lily Evans!" Sirius exclaimed grinning._

"Lily Evans, why would I dream about _her of all people? What reason would I have to do such a thing?" James said factually._

"Oh, maybe because you were talking in your sleep," Sirius said.

"You know, I never knew you _really liked her, I thought you wanted a good prank to pull," Remus chimed in._

"What else would you dream about, anyway?" Peter added eager to do his bit.

"I do not talk in my sleep, and I would never like Lily! Uh, has anyone seen my robes?" James asked, trying to change the subject.

"Avoiding the topic…"

*

"Now, be careful, class, these specimens are very rare. We are most fortunate to have such beautiful Venomous Lilies in our greenhouses," said Professor Chickpea.

"Yeah, really lucky, we've got one in our class too," James, whispered to his friends who grinned.

"I heard that, Potter," Lily said from behind him. James looked at her and grinned. It didn't work. Not only was Lily glaring at him, but the professor was too.

"Mr. Potter, please get back to work! Chit-chatting will only help you fail Herbology!" she said.

"But I –" he tried, but Professor Chickpea wouldn't hear of any excuses. James turned around to glare at Lily, but this time she was simply smiling at him.

"Lils, why'd you do that? You got him in trouble!" Suzanne whispered to her.

"What's wrong with that?" Lily asked puzzled.

"You're supposed to like him! At least pretend, Lily, or else our whole plan will go down the drain…" Sammy groaned.

"I'm not sure whether this is going to work or not. I mean, he's acting pretty normal today," Pooja said unsurely.

"Guys almost _always act like that. Most guys have a split personality. One minute they're your best friend, the next your archenemy," Suzanne explained. She seemed to know a lot about boys._

"I'm experienced," she added simply.

"Uh huh, whatever you say."

At the next pot of lilies, the four boys were also whispering together.

"You're _supposed to be nice! I know it's hard, but you have to try at the very least. What happened to the old Potter charm? It used to get down all the girls at Elementary," Sirius said, trying his best to coax James into agreeing, which wasn't all that easy._

"It only works on people _I want it to work on. Lily isn't one of those people," James said, turning around to glare at her again._

"Oh, come on James, you're going to ruin everything if you act like this. You're the only one who can pull off something like this," Remus said.

"Please stick to the plan, James. I'm sure she likes you, just a little bit. All you have to do is make her like you some more. It won't be _that hard," Peter said, as he turned around to look at her. As Lily saw them looking at her, she glared at them again. "Then again, it could be." Peter added in a timid whisper._

"Oh, alright, I'll try. But, it's going to be hard, and you guys are going to have to help me… a lot," James said, giving in sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll give you all the help we can," Sirius said, winking at him again.

"Class is dismissed! Please put your pots in their respective places and remove your safety attire!" Professor Chickpea said trying to talk over the racket the students were causing in the mad rush to leave.

"What do we have now?" Pooja asked as she tidied up her hair. It had fallen out of place as she tried to exit, and it looked dreadful.

"Let me check… We have Charms! Yay, I love charms!" Lily said excitedly.

"Yeah, only because you're good at it," said a voice behind her.

"What, oh, it's you Pot – uh, James," she said, correcting herself. She had gotten so used to calling him _Potter within the last few days that it was hard for her to correct the habit. It does not do well for friends to call one another by their last names._

"Yeah, it's me!" he said brightly. Apparently, he hadn't noticed her slip up. "So, what're you doing, today?" he asked.

"Well, I'm going to class right now…" Lily said. What else would she be doing?

"Oh, I meant what're you going to do this afternoon? We have Friday afternoons free, you know," James said.

"I don't know. I'll probably start my homework… we have a lot for Transfiguration. Ugh, I _hate Transfiguration!" she said, more to herself rather than to him._

"How can you hate it? It's so simple! Just a little flick of your wand, and voila, you have a needle in place of a matchstick. There's nothing to it, really," James said, smiling.

Lily, however, thought he was trying to show off again, and snapped back. "Well, yeah, it's the perfect chance for _you to show off, isn't it? At least we have Charms next class…," she muttered._

"We _do? Now Charms is what __I call boring," James groaned. They had all started walking down, and neither Lily nor James noticed the fact that the other six were lagging behind, whispering, and pointing at the 'couple'._

"How can you hate _Charms?" Lily nearly yelled, ecstatic._

"Easy… you just do."

"But it's so… so… let me put it this way. I guess Charms come to me just as Transfiguration comes to you. I just flick my wand, mutter the words, and the feather flies up in the air. You flick your wand, and the match turns into a needle. I guess we're just different," Lily said, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," James agreed. They were quiet for a while, neither noticing what to say. In a few minutes, however, James had an idea.

"Hey, you think, you think we could help each other out?" James asked.

"Help each other out, how do you suppose we do a thing like that?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"You help me with my Charms, and I'll help you with your Transfiguration. It's that simple, Lils" he said happily.

"Please don't call me that. But, anyway, I guess, okay, I'll try it out. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I guess I'll try," she said, giving in.

"Come on, you two, or we'll be late for Charms. You wouldn't want that, would you, _Lils?" asked Sammy._

"What, what time is it? 10:30, oh no, hurry up or we'll be late!" Lily yelled, as she ran to the classroom, dragging James along by the arm.

"Didn't I just say that?" Sammy asked. But no one heard her, because they were all trying to catch up with the James and Lily.

"What's gotten into those two? They're suddenly the best of friends! What happened to us, eh Remus?" asked Sirius.

"I seriously don't know… Come on, maybe we'll find out next class. We have History of Magic, so we can pass notes like we did yesterday," Remus said.

The Charms class was one of the strangest yet. Amazingly, Lily was using her talent at Charms to help out James, instead of showing them off in front of him. There is probably no need to add that James was hopeless at it.

"Oh, very good, Miss Evans. I see you are helping out your classmate Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, do see that you take her advice seriously, for she _is our star-student," Professor Fluorite, their Charms professor, said. Turning around, he spotted trouble at the table where Peter and Suzanne were working as partners._

"Mr. Pettigrew, _do try and do the charms right! Miss Urban, please help out your partner," the professor said. That Charms class didn't seem to be going well for him anymore than it was for James._

"James, please, watch carefully so you'll get it _right for a change! Now, first, hold your wand by the end, like so. No, you're doing it all wrong. Keep your wrist nice and loose, it should be able to, I don't know, your wand should be able to slide up and down through your fingers without falling. Here, now watch carefully… __Wingardium Leviosa! See, it worked for me. Just swish your wand lightly through the air, and flick it slowly at the feather. That's all there is to it. Okay, now you try…" Lily said. She was on the verge of losing her temper, and she wasn't to keen on doing such a thing. Especially due to what came to her memory when she thought of the last time she ever lost it…_

-|flashback|-

"Liliane, what have you done with my barrette?" Petunia shouted in her ear.

"What… your barrette hasn't seen me… I mean I haven't seen your barrette," Lily said. She had been fast asleep, and it was usually a daily routine for Petunia to wake her up. Usually, however, this was on a school day so Lily didn't mind. Sundays, however, were different.

"Very funny… guilty consciences are always inarticulate! Now _give me my barrette, Liliane! I'm waiting!" Petunia fumed._

"For the last time, I haven't taken your damn barrette! Jeez, and it's a Sunday! Petunia, what were you thinking to wake me up at seven forty on a Sunday?" Lily yelled back.

"Shut it, you! I want my barrette!" she stamped her foot on the ground as she said this. (In fact, it was so loud that Mrs. Evans, who was downstairs, screamed and produced a tinkling sound, as though she had dropped Mr. Evans' cup of coffee.) "Now give it to me before I call Mother!"

"Ugh, I told you. I haven't done anything to it! Why would I even want to _touch your barrette?" Lily said. This didn't seem to help; if anything, it just made Petunia even more annoyed._

"You little brat, just get up and help me find it! I know a lie when I hear one, and I've been hearing them for the past five minutes! You're nothing but a good-for-nothing little weasel, that's what you are! A weasel, a stinky old weasel that doesn't know left from right. You don't even know how to talk politely to your older sister! And you call yourself a member of the Evans family… you give our family a bad name! You're a disgrace to society!" Petunia screeched back. It was nothing unusual for Petunia to go a little overboard when criticizing Lily, but this time, Lily felt that she had gone too far.

"How dare you call me a 'disgrace'? If anyone's a disgrace, it's you! And you say that _I have been lying? You have! If I say I haven't taken your stupid barrette, I haven't! What's the big deal if it's lost anyway? It's just a stupid hair accessory… it's not important! You probably just misplaced it; that's a very likely thing to happen with the incurable disease you inherited from your creator!" Lily snapped._

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Petunia snapped back.

"Stupidity… isn't that obvious! Now get the hell out of my room before I make you!" Lily yelled.

"MOTHER, Liliane called me stupid!" Petunia screeched.

"Lily, dear, don't lose your temper," came her mother's sweet voice from downstairs. She never got worked up about their arguments. Like many other things, they were only part of the routine in the Evans household.

-|end of flashback|-

"Okay… uh, swish, and flick… um _Wingardium Leviosa! Hey, it didn't work! Your stupid rules made it disappear again! Oh, you're no good at teaching, Lily!" James said. Though he was only joking, Lily was so worked up that she didn't catch the sarcasm, and as much as she had tried to keep it in, she snapped._

"Fine then, if you don't want me to teach you, I won't! I was only helping you because _you wanted me to do so! This deal is over, Potter!"_

"Lily, I was only –" James began.

"I know you were trying, but it just isn't working! You're hopeless!" Lily said, slowly calming down.

"I'm not hopeless; you're the one who can't teach!" It was now James' turn to yell at her.

"Just leave me alone Potter! I don't need to hear insults from you!"

"Is that so? Well, then why don't _you go? I was here first!"_

"Says who?"

"I say so!"

"Who wants to listen to what the 'famous Mr. Potter' says?"

"Everyone in this damn school, that's who! And I'm surprised you don't want to, since you're the one who's so terrible at Transfiguration! You practically came running to me for help!" James said. Both of them knew it was a lie, since James was the one who came up with idea, but nevertheless Lily bit her lip and started to think.

_If I call this deal off, then I won't get the help I need. But who wants help from James Potter? I do… well, actually, I don't want to get help from him, but I need it if I'm going to pass the Transfiguration exam. Everything else is perfectly fine…_

"Well, okay, I'm sorry James. I'll give it one more try. But if you blow off these Charms any more, I'm through," Lily gave in.

"I don't need your help. Remus is the best at Charms anyway. I don't know why I asked you. Probably because you're so useless at Transfiguration," James said, before stalking off towards where Peter was sitting, having been abandoned by Suzanne.

The rest of the class had been aware of their heated argument, but they had grown used to acting indifferent towards them. The first argument, which had grown out of who was the bigger show-off during DADA, had only ended up including the whole class when Suzanne and Sammy tried to break them apart. After that, the Gryffindors had decided to leave the two to their own devices.

"James, please, I'm sorry, just please help me in Transfiguration. I – I need your help. I, I want it. Please help me; you're the only one that can help me enough that I can pass the Transfiguration Exam. Please help me. I said I'm sorry," she said, sadly.

James was usually good at ignoring girls, unless they were 'totally hot' in his opinion. However, though Lily didn't come under this category, he still couldn't help but notice how downcast she looked, as though he had truly offended her. He noticed how her eyes had turned this dark emerald color, as though they were close to tears, and how her cheeks were flushed.

_Wait a minute. This is Lily here. Snap out of it, James old boy! You can't fall for her, at least not yet. You have to get to fall for you, or you're going to be the laughingstock of the Gryffindor First Years… But what if I give it a try? No, I can't do that. You have a prank to pull, remember. Why can't we just ditch it? Forget it, James. You can't like her and dump her at the same time. You have some money on the line. _

"James, what's up?" Sirius said, poking him in the back of the head.

"Huh, what happened?" James asked, coming out of his trance. He looked back at the place where Lily had been standing seconds ago, and found that there was nothing there. In fact, no one was even in the classroom except for his friends.

"You and Evans were arguing over your Charms, and she tried to apologize, and you ignored her, but then all of a sudden you were staring at her with a, a _queer look on your face," Peter said in a rush._

"I, I was?" James asked, as though he didn't know.

"No, it wasn't a queer look. I'd recognize it anywhere. It's the same look you had when you were staring at her in Diagon Alley, and when you were staring at Lorena Martine who went to the same elementary as we did. Do you remember her?" Sirius said a sly look on his face.

"Yeah, I remember her. But that has nothing to do with this. I don't like Lily! Why do you keep saying I do?" James replied furiously.

"Oh, never mind him James. He's just upset that Sammy was criticizing him the whole time. They were partners…" Remus said.

"She was not; she was only jealous of my amazing skill at Charms. At least I wasn't stuck with Pooja. I wonder why Professor Fluorite paired us four up with those devil-incarnates. Sheer torture… we don't deserve it," Sirius said.

"Um, to change the subject, does anyone else think that we should be in DADA now?" James asked. He didn't want to talk about Lily and her friends any more than he had to.

"We have lunch first. Come on, let's go," Remus said. He had memorized the schedule on the first day.

"Yes, teacher," Sirius said, grinning.

The four talked as they walked on their way to lunch. Or rather, Sirius and Remus talked, James pretended to listen, and Peter was running trying to keep up with them. He didn't realize that Sirius had put the Leg-Locker Curse on him, just for fun. When he was confronted by Professor McGonagall, their strict Transfiguration professor, (A/N: I know most of you know this already, but I'm still going to write stuff like this out. Sorry if it bugs you) he said he was only practicing his hexes.

"Lily, you know you're supposed to get along," Sammy said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. They had come in rather late, since they had spent a few minutes talking to one of the other Gryffindor girls, a girl by the name of Linda Nadir. She had gone on and on to Lily on how lucky, she had been to have James as a partner, and the four of them had spent the same amount of time trying to convince her that it was exactly the opposite case.

"I know, and I was trying my hardest, but it just didn't work. It's not my fault that he's a jerk.  But I really was sorry when I apologized. Besides, I really do need help in Transfiguration," Lily said.

"Well, I guess you tried, and that's what counts. But, does anyone else think that this joke doesn't seem to be going anywhere? As soon as you two try and get along, you suddenly start fighting again. I don't get it. Maybe we should just forget about it. Or else, we can think of something else to do in the meantime," Pooja said. She was really good at thinking things out.

"Well, what'll we do?" asked Suzanne. Unlike Pooja, she was more of a follower and copier rather than a leader.

"I don't know. What do you want to do, Lily?" Sammy asked, stumped.

"Hmm… I don't know. Give me a while, and I'll come up with something soon enough," she said. She was going to think of something even if it was the last thing, she did. The longer she could keep from being nice to James, the better.

"Hey, look, here they come now. Really, you'd think they'd be nice at least to their own friends. Look at what they've done to Peter!" Pooja said, almost sympathetically.

"That guy deserves to be hexed. I would have done the same, but Professor Fluorite was watching us almost the whole time. The poor idiot can't even tell one side of his wand from the other!" Suzanne said. "Partnering him once a week is just once a week too much."

"I wonder what the other three are talking about. They seem to be deep in thought. Or, at least Remus is. Mind you, he always looks like he's thinking. Sirius is pretty much just a joker who hurls insults every which way, and Peter's this nosy little git who isn't all that smart," Lily said, observing.

"What about James? What do you think of him?" asked Sammy.

"I don't really know. He's, well, he's a jerk with a big ego; he doesn't acknowledge other people's strengths, and sucks up to McGonagall as much as he can. He is kind of smart, though. But then, there _is something good in everyone," Lily said._

"You do realize that you've said more about him than the other three, don't you?" Suzanne said, smiling.

"What difference does it make? The only reason I know more about him than the others is because he shows-off so much. Can we stop talking about them?" Lily said. She was getting sick of James and his gang. Much to her dismay, when they finally reached the Gryffindor table (they had finally freed Peter of his burden and had been busy running around as he tried to chase them), James took no time at all in sitting right next to her.

"Hey Lils, do you want to practice during lunch?" James asked brightly.

"Don't call me Lils!" Lily exclaimed. _Keep your temper, girl. _

"Oh, sorry Lily, I thought you liked being called by your nickname. Well, do you want to practice?" he asked again.

"Practice what?" Lily asked. _I wouldn't mind practicing Transfiguration, but I don't want to get into another fight. _

"Transfiguration… you've already done your bit by helping me out. We have DADA next, so we could practice in the History of Magic classroom across the hallway. It'll be empty now since we don't have any classes after Defense. Friday afternoons are free, don't you remember? I'll meet you there after lunch," he said. _Being nice is tough, but I think I rather like it. It's much better than arguing, anyway. _

"Okay, if you say so. Um, James, can I ask you something?" Lily asked.

"You just have. But go ahead," he replied softly.

"Nothing, don't mind me."

"Well, okay then… I'll meet you there."

Things were quiet for a while, but in a few minutes, James and his friends got up, having finished. Lily hadn't eaten; she had only picked at her food, and her friends were starting to get worried about her.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Suzanne asked worriedly.

"Yeah, you've been quiet ever since those four got over here. Is something bugging you?" Pooja asked.

"Come on, Lils. You can tell us. We're your friends," Sammy put in.

Lily sighed, and decided that it would be best to give in to their requests. "Nothing's wrong guys. Really, if something _were wrong, I'd tell you. I'm just… unsure, that's all," Lily explained._

"Unsure… what are you unsure about?" asked Sammy, who was starting to get worried for her friend.

"I'm not sure about James, that's what. I know this sounds weird; it does to me too. You see, I've only known him for a week, and I'm already like his worst enemy. That is, I am until he starts acting perfectly nice again like he was on the train and talks to me as though he's known me for ages," Lily said. She was talking more to herself than to her friends, as though she was trying to explain her confusion to herself.

"Gee, Lily, I wish you would have told us sooner. Then maybe we wouldn't have forced you to like him. I'm sorry," Pooja said softly in an apologetic tone.

"It is okay, Pooja. I'm probably going to have to, anyway, what with one thing and another.

They were all silent for a while as they finished the rest of their food. Soon, Suzanne spoke up.

"Lils, don't you have to meet him for something? He's helping you with your Transfiguration, isn't he?" Suzanne said suddenly.

"Oh _no, I nearly forgot! I've got to run. Well, I'll see you guys at Defense!" Lily said as she whipped up her bags and ran out of the Great Hall._

"She certainly does want to get good grades in McGonagall's class, doesn't she?" asked Sammy.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, I've got an idea of a prank we could pull! And it could be on two people at once, too!" Suzanne said excitedly, an evil grin on her face.

"What is it, Suzanne?" Sammy asked.

"Come with me to the Common Room. We can talk there," she replied shortly. "I have some really great plans."

"I wonder what she's planning?" Sammy whispered to the confused Pooja as they followed Suzanne down the hall. They were in for a surprise.

*

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry it went kind of slow, but I was trying to get the personalities of all of the different characters to kind of fall in place, as well as allow the plot to build up. It may look as though it's going to end up as a romance, but I'm trying to steer it as far away from that as possible. You may think I'm being stupid by saying this, but to tell you the truth I have no clue as to where this story is going… I just write as things come to me… I don't really plan ahead much. I'm not really organized. Well, thanks for reading. 


	9. Unsuccessful Attempts at Friendship

A/N: Well, here's Chapter Nine! I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update, but I had writer's block for this story, and I also started up another one on my own and one with a friend (Snoopy 511 – she's a great author!) Once again, I want to say thanks to my reviewers, though I would have liked more... That's about it… so here's the next chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the real Harry Potter characters – as in Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, some of the teachers, and a few other students whose names I have mentioned – but I do own the ones I've invented. I think that should be pretty clear for those of you who are familiar with the Harry Potter series. For those of you, who aren't, well, too bad.**

*

"Sorry, James but I was… where is he?" Lily said out loud to herself. She had just run into the History of Magic classroom, five minutes later, and found that it was empty.

"And I thought he'd be waiting for _me…" Lily muttered. She would have been there in three minutes, but it took her a while to find the classroom. She knew it was opposite the DADA room, but she wasn't sure as they were due to have their first class the following Tuesday. (A/N: September 1st isn't always a Monday… meaning that they wouldn't have started with a full week…) What surprised her even more was that James knew._

"Oh well… I guess the only thing I can do is sit here and wait."

What she didn't know, however, was that James Potter _was in the room, and was observing her very closely from behind a curtain of silvery material – he was wearing his Invisibility Cloak. He did not want to disclose his possession of such a valuable item to Lily, but he merely wanted to use it to try and figure out what he thought of him. He had been constantly recollecting how she looked when she was angry and upset, and the memories stunned him. He didn't know why, even though something at the back of his head kept prodding him in the right direction. He refused to believe it. He couldn't. It was Lily. She wasn't like the girls he had met before, so why should he feel that way about her?_

_Who even said I have feelings for her? Why are such vile thoughts even crossing my mind? I'm only supposed to pretend, pretend being the key word in the sentence. _

"Oh, when is he going to get here? Poor git, he probably forgot about the whole thing…That probably would be pretty easy for him, what with the swollen ego he has and the fact that he's nothing but a brainless git…" Lily said to herself. She had no idea that he was there as she was speaking, and at that, moment was fighting the urge to walk up to where she was sitting and kick her in the shins.

"But he's nice, I guess," she continued, much to James' surprise. "He voluntarily suggested that we help out each other, and he was also so nice to me during dinner that first night, even though he was a beast these past two days. I really don't know why I can't get along with him." At this, she sighed and shook her head. James was wondering if she realized that she was talking to thin air about him, but he reckoned not. He decided that he'd better make some sort of an 'entrance', before she started to wonder where he was, but stopped, because she was still talking.

One thing that neither of them knew was that James' friends happened to know that he was present under his Invisibility Cloak, though they could not see him either.

"Ouch, Peter be careful! Can't you see where you're going?" Remus whispered forcefully over to the heap of robes that was Peter. He had tripped over the hem of Remus' robes and had fallen flat on the floor.

"I'm sorry! But it isn't my fault if your robes are so long," Peter said defensively.

"Hush up both of you! We'll get caught," Sirius said, breaking up the argument. "Besides, Lily's talking again, and I can't here what she's saying while you two dunderheads are gibbering,"

"Oh, _that's nice! You're nearly as loud –" Peter began, but he was hushed up when two hands were clamped firmly over his mouth._

"Hmm… I guess he's not going to show up after all. Stupid git, he might have told me he was going to forget! Or rather, I should have remembered, after what happened on Wednesday." (A/N: September 1st was a Wednesday that year. Just thought I should let you know.)

She had remembered very clearly that James had asked to speak to her after the feast, but unfortunately, neither of them had gotten the chance to talk to one another afterwards, as they were ushered upstairs by the Gryffindor prefects, Andrew Wilson and Eliza McCarthy. Both had apparently forgotten while going to bed, but had remembered that they were to meet some time after midnight, and had ran out at the same time and crashed into one another as they ran into the Common Room. The din had caused some of the students from both dorms to wake up. Eventually, the Prefects walked in and dispersed the crowds. Both Lily and James were flushed red from embarrassment at being the cause of the chaos in the middle of the night. Both of them were still teased once in a while by the incident.

"Stupid g – James, I was wondering when you'd get here," Lily said suddenly as she reached the door.

"Oh, sorry about that," she added, when she saw that he was massaging his forehead. They had knocked their heads together when they tried to walk through the door together.

"Oh, it's alright… I think. Sorry I was late," James said, grinning at her. She smiled weakly.

"So, I got some stuff from McGonagall's cupboard," he said as he dumped a few matches on the table.

"Okay, thanks, I guess. Um, so where do I start?" she said. As the two put their heads together (A/N: not literally!) and worked on Transfiguration, they didn't notice that Lily's friends were also in another corner of the room.

"Okay, are you guys ready?" Suzanne whispered to the other two.

"Suzie, I'm not sure if this is going to work," Pooja said quietly.

"Of course it will. I devised it, so how can't it work?" Suzanne said, a bit over-confidently.

"A variety of ways…" Sammy whispered to Pooja, who tried to stifle her giggles unsuccessfully.

"Oh, shut up you two. We'll get caught in the act of making history. Are you guys ready?" Suzanne repeated.

"Yeah, we're ready, Suzie," Sammy said, winking.

"Okay, Sammy, you cover Lily, and Pooja, you keep your wand on those matches," Suzanne instructed.

"And what are _you going to do?" asked Sammy with her eyebrow raised._

"Supervise, what else would I do? I dare say it'll be hard for you to follow my instructions as carefully as I would like you to, so I'm going to make _sure that you do so," Suzanne said shortly._

"Yeah, sure you are –" Pooja began, but stopped when she saw the glare that Suzanne gave her.

In the opposite corner of the room, the boys were doing something quite similar.

"Okay, men, be ready to fire when the time is right," Sirius said.

"Fire, what do you mean fire? Are we supposed to shoot them or something?" Peter asked, befuddled by his speech.

"You're not supposed to take it literally, nitwit! Now pay attention, they're about to start," Remus explained. The three boys and girls in hiding prepared to take close watch on what they were to do.

"Remember, Pooja, only charm them when Lily's bending over it. That way, she'll think that James did it. We don't necessarily want James to get mad at her. That'll make things hard. Remember, only when Lily's trying, not when James is. We want Lily to get mad, not James. Remember –"

"I _know, Suzie! I know! We've been through it nearly ten times, for goodness sake!"_

"Shut it, you two," Sammy called from where she was squatting so that she could watch the boy and girl in a well-hidden spot.

"Alright, now the art of Transfiguration is very simple to understand, as well as do. At least, it is like that for some people," James added when he saw the look Lily gave him.

"Okay, will you stop acting like a walking encyclopedia and just get to it? Jeez… and I thought listening to Professor Binns was the most boring thing on earth," Lily said, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you don't have to rub it in. But, alright, I'm sorry if I affected your usual bedtime, your _highness," James answered sarcastically. Lily rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same. James normally hated giggles, since when girls usually did it around him, it was meant for attraction. In Lily's case, however, it was sincere and not as 'bubbly', and therefore he didn't mind._

"So, basically all you need to do is make sure that you're pointing your wand at the matchstick, nowhere else or it won't work, and make sure you saw the incantation correctly. Watch –"

Lily watched as James whispered the magic words, and within milliseconds, the match Lily had been holding up for him had turned silvery and pointy.

"Ooh, let me try!" Lily said excitedly. She picked up her wand and James held up a match for her. She pointed her wand at the match, opened her mouth wide to say the incantation, and then stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked James.

"I – uh, do you think you could tell me the incantation again? I, well, I forgot."

"Jeez, Lily, it is _Transfirthreesio, remember?" James said, looking at her in disbelief._

"Oh, right, thanks, I'm just short of memory right now."

"Uh huh…" James said unsure.

"Okay, here goes: _Transfirthreesio!"_

"Go, Pooja, do your stuff! Remember, you're charming the match!"

"Come on Pete, you can do it! Remember, aim for the match!"

There was a small flash of light and the match emerged – as an abnormal object that neither Lily nor James had ever seen before. It looked like a cross between a match and a needle, that is, like a match, it had a bump that could be lighted, but at the end that should have been the handle it had gone round and had an eye. In between, it was a mixture of colors and materials: wood and metal, silver and brown.

"Oh, screw it! Pooja, how could you mess up?" Sammy whispered, after which she swore so badly that Suzanne had to cover her mouth with her hand in a frenzy to shush her up.

"Jeez, Sammers, you don't have to swear! It wasn't my fault. Lily probably messed up too, and I could have sworn that someone else did something too…" Pooja said thoughtfully. But Suzanne made her thoughts crash down again.

"Someone else said something too? I've never heard such nonsense! You two must be the most messed up people on the planet! Really, you think someone else has come up with the remarkable plan that only someone with genius like mine could come up with?" Suzanne asked.

"Uh, by the kind of genius you have, do you mean no intelligence at all?" Sammy asked, with her finger tapping her chin.

"Oh, shut up."

"Well, gee, Lily, I guess you're halfway there," James said, turning his head this way and that.

"Oh, why on _earth can't I do it right?" asked Lily, exasperated. No matter what James said, Lily felt that Transfiguration was the hardest subject in existence._

"You're probably not trying hard enough. Come on, this is why I brought us so many matches."

"Remus, it's not my fault that it messed up. Please don't yell at me!" Peter said, cowering with fright in another corner of the room.

"Jeez, Pete, I'm not going to eat you or something. Now sit up straight!"

"Aw, now look what you did, Remy! Poor Pete's scared of you, now," Sirius said in a baby voice.

"Grr, can't you people stop mimicking me?" Remus asked, annoyed. "If you want to carry this thing through we'd better concentrate and not fool around. Get the picture?"

"Yes, Mother!" Peter said, with a childish smile on his face. Remus just groaned.

"No, no, no, you're doing it all _wrong! Here, let me show you again," James' voice, said, as he grew more and more frustrated. This time, it appeared as though James missed the target, for as soon as he spoke, the ring on Lily's finger turned into a slug._

"Eck, James, get it off me! Get it _off me! Get it off me, __now!" squealed Lily._

"Alright, alright, just stand still. I can't imagine why my aim went wrong…"

"Because you're a brainless git, that's why, Mr. Potter! That was my _favorite ring, you hear. And now you've gone and transfigured it into a slug! Eck, you'd better change it back, before I hex you!" Lily said, her hands on her hips, or rather, one on her hip as she tried to shake the slug off her other one._

"I am _not a brainless git! You got in the way!" James said defensively. Things were __not going as planned._

"Just get the slug off me, and stop arguing." James couldn't think of anything to say to this, so he complied with her requests.

"Now, show me again," Lily directed.

"Pooja, did you do that?" asked Suzanne.

"No, did you?"

"No… Sammy, did you do something?"

"Nope, I didn't do anything, either." 

"Strange, I guess you were right after all, Pooja. But who could be trying to do the same thing we are?" Suzanne said her brow wrinkling as she pondered the answer to her own question. The three girls were silent for a while as they thought who could be hiding in the room too.

"I think I know who," Sammy said, breaking the silence. From her hiding spot, she pointed to a corner that was hidden by another bookshelf, but was near a mirror. In the mirror, however, they could see the reflection of three strangely familiar boys…

"Those gits, what are they doing here?" Suzanne asked.

"They're probably here for the same reason we are," Pooja answered.

"I know. That was meant as a rhetorical question."

"Okay, we didn't come here for a lesson in proper English. Now pay _attention," Sammy said, breaking their conversation before it turned into an argument._

Sighing, the other two turned back to watching Lily mess up, James get frustrated, and the boys murmur spells.

"Hey, I just got an idea!" Sammy exclaimed after a few minutes of trial and errors – trial on Lily's part to transfigure the matches and error on the parts of the girls. So far, only the boys had managed to do anything right.

It was a sign as to how bored the girls were that they didn't answer, but merely turned their heads in her direction.

"How about instead of trying to hex them and charm them ourselves, we'll hex the guys? How does that sound?" Sammy asked.

"It makes sense, but what's the point?" asked Pooja.

"Oh, that would work, I guess, but then we wouldn't get anywhere with Lily and James," Suzanne stated.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Suzie."

"What about me? Aren't I right too?" asked Pooja, looking from one of her friends to the other.

"Of course I'm right."

"You're not completely right, though," Sammy responded.

"Is anyone listening to me?"

"How am I not completely right?"

"Simple – we could always make it look as though the guys are in charge of all of Lily's failures, making it so that Lily hates James' friends, and James will probably try to back them up –" Sammy tried to explain.

"And then Lily will hate James too! If it works, that is."

"Will someone _please listen to me?"_

"It'll work. But we've got to make sure they don't see us. If we can see their reflection in the mirror, there's a high chance that they can see us just as easily," Sammy said, peeking cautiously around the corner of the bookshelf.

"Let's just hope they're not that smart."

"Hello is anyone home, or have I disappeared into thin air?" Pooja said a little too loudly.

"Shush, Pooja, they'll hear you," Sammy said, waving her hand at her.

"Oh great, just great – you don't hear me until I speak loud enough, and even then all you do is tell me to shush up. That's just great, perfectly great."

"Be _quiet, Pooja!"_

At this, she just slouched down in the corner, folder her arms across her chest, and watched her two white friends as they planned their course of action. She had half a mind to leave.

"Okay, Pooja, know, when I tell you, you've got to send a tickling charm across the room at Peter, okay?" Sammy whispered back to her.

"How am I supposed to do that? I can't even see him," Pooja complained.

"Stop whining, Poo. Just point it at his reflection so that it bounces off the mirror and hits him!" Suzanne explained.

"Oh, I get it now, Suzie. Okay, operation tickler is underway!" she said excitedly.

"Not yet, Pooja, don't do it yet!"

"I'm _not! Jeez, get a hold of yourself. Don't you trust me to do the right thing?"_

"Not particularly…"

She just glared at them before turning back to watch the others in the room.

"Okay Lily, let's try once more. Remember, aim is one of the most important things, besides saying the spell right, of course. Come on, Lily, you have to get it this time," James said, though he didn't seem to believe what he was saying.

"Al – Alright, here goes," Lily said, doubting her abilities as much as James was.

This time, however, both the girls and the boys were prepared.

"Remember Peter; point at the matches, or at Lily. And try not to make anything _too bad happen…" Remus reminded him constantly._

"Okay, okay, already… Jeez, you'd think you were sending me off to the first Triwizard Tourney or something. But why do _I have to do this, Remus?" Peter pleaded._

"Pete, you know we can always depend on you to do something wrong. That's why," explained Sirius, grinning. But his grin faded slightly at the look Remus gave him and since Peter looked even more downcast than usual. "Come on Pete, you can do it."

"Okay, I'll try," he said doubtfully.

Across the room, the girls were having their own debate.

"Here, Pooja, I'll do it. You're hopeless…," groaned Sammy.

"I'm not hopeless, it's just that you too don't have any faith in me and don't offer any encouragement!" she squealed back.

"Hush, Pooja, they'll hear us!" Suzanne squealed back.

"Okay, but I'm gonna get James first," said Sammy, trying to break up the arguments. She steadied herself, and whispered a few words. At the same time, Peter murmured the incantation that they had chosen. Sparks flew – literally.

Lily found that her usually auburn hair had a strange green stripe going through it, and it didn't seem to be a part of her normal hair. Strangely enough, it seemed to be breathing.

"James, what did you _do?" Lily squealed as she felt her head, but as she looked at him, she couldn't help but burst out laughing._

"What's so funny? And have I grown a beard or something?" James asked, feeling his face.

"You'd better look over in the mirror over there," Lily said between breaths. As James looked into the mirror, he let out a cry that made everyone else in the room jump.

"I'm – I'm – I'm a primate! Damn it, what did you do to me, Lily? You've transfigured me instead of the stupid match! Jeez, you can do Transfiguration, you just need to work on your aim," James screamed.

"Well, _that's nice! I'm the one with the living slime in my hair!" she screamed back at him._

"Oh, isn't it? In case you didn't notice, I complimented you! But all you care about is your bad hair day," he said, turning back to look at her.

"Oh, really, somehow, I couldn't sense the fact that you were actually _trying to be nice! It seemed as though you were putting me down… for a change!" she said hotly._

"Well, that certainly shows a little of your _true intelligence, doesn't it?" James snapped back._

"Whoa… I really think we made them fight this time. But what's with the slime in her hair?" asked Suzanne.

"Wow, are you telling me that the Super-Smart Suzie doesn't know what happened? I'm shocked!" Pooja said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up!" Suzanne barked.

"It's the stupid gits… they certainly helped us, anyhow. But we'd better get that tickling charm over. I don't care what you say, Suzanne, but I'm getting Sirius back," Sammy said.

"What are you getting him back for?" Suzanne asked, puzzled.

"I'm getting him back for the last seven and a half years, as well as for all the insults he's thrown at me and Lily – that's what."

Suzanne and Pooja just looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. Sammy, her eyes shining, muttered the words with her wand pointed to Sirius' reflection in the mirror. Unfortunately, there was a sudden obstruction that she hadn't anticipated.

"Well, if that's what you think, fine! I'm leaving!" Lily yelled back at James. She proceeded to walk out of the door, making the boys scramble around for a place to hide in their corner, but they soon stopped and stared at her. Sammy's Tickling Charm had hit her instead, and before long, Lily was bent over double, wheezing and giggling for all she was worth.

"Lily, what happened?" James asked, shocked. Due to his inexperience in Charms, he couldn't understand what she was doing.

"I – don't – know!" she said between breaths. "You – cursed – me – or – something. Stop – it!"

"I didn't do anything! Jeez, talk about unfounded accusations," James said, a little pissed that she was constantly accusing him for anything and everything that happened to her.

"Just – do – something – already!" she squealed. Getting tickled once in a while was bad enough, but when it happened for a few minutes on end it got slightly painful.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop it – _Finite Incantatem," he whispered. Almost immediately, she stopped, and looked up._

"Stupid idiot, why did she get in the way?" Sammy said.

"She didn't _try to, dummy! If she knew you were going to hex Sirius, she would have probably given you a clear shot!" Suzanne snapped._

"Oh, shut up," Pooja said the two of them, glad that for a change she wasn't causing the problems.

Lily on the other hand, was throwing as many insults as she could think of at him.

"You idiot, you say you're trying to help me, and then you hex me! What kind of a teacher are you?" she yelled.

"It's not my fault that you can't do Transfiguration! You're the jerk who can't even do the easiest subject in existence!" James snapped back.

"Hey, I can do Charms! Who needs Transfiguration anyway? It's useless!" she screamed.

"What the hell do you mean? Transfiguration is like the basis for magic! You're just too thick to notice!"

"What do you mean? You stink, you now that?" she snapped at him. With that, she walked out – for real.

James blinked, staring at the spot where she had been standing seconds ago. Then, he said to himself, "Jeez, talk about feisty. She might at least have said sorry for turning me into a monkey." Slowly, and silently, he walked out to class.

*

A/N: So that's it! Once again, sorry it took me so long to update, but this chapter got really long and I kind of had writer's block… boo hoo… and plus I didn't get very many reviews (hint, hint!) So, please review! I might write faster then. :)


	10. Defense Against the Dark Arts

A/N: Chapter 10 is here. So please read it and review!

*

"Sammers, we have to run! We'll be late too! We've got five seconds!" Suzanne screamed at the other two. The three girls crept out as slowly and inconspicuously as possible. They didn't want the boys to notice that they had been present for the very same reason as they had. What _they didn't notice, however, were that the boys were long gone._

The boys, on the other hand, had run out before Lily had, knowing that if they had lingered they would have been caught easily. The DADA professor, Professor Inkle, was surprised to see that they were the first to show up. Soon after, Lily and James walked in, trying to be as oblivious to the other as was possible. They sat down on opposite sides of the room, Lily by the window on her own, and James with his friends at the front of the class. Soon, the rest of the class walked in, and Professor Inkle decided to start.

The Defense classes on Fridays were doubled with the Hufflepuffs, just like Herbology. This was a problem for Lily, as a certain Hufflepuff by the name of Alan Wilkes, fancied her. Usually, Lily's friends were with her to keep him away, but today was an exception.

_Jeez, where are you three? Don't tell me you've been eating for so long… Lily thought dejectedly. Where __were her friends? __I just hope Wilkes doesn't see me sitting over here…_

But her hopes were in vain, for soon enough, Alan had walked up to her and asked if he could sit by her. Having been brought up learning never to say 'no' to someone, she gave him a weak smile and agreed. The boys, minus James, turned around to look for her. They spied her slouching low in her chair, trying not to be noticed, while Alan was making forced conversation with her. But soon, everyone was looking up front, for Professor Inkle was ready to teach.

_Sammy, where are you? Jeez, guys, this is torture. Why did you leave me alone? Now I'm stuck with Alan for the next hour and a half…_

"Today, class, I have prepared something rather different from the usual mundane lectures that I give daily to my young students. Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to introduce you to certain creatures that often mislead even the most experienced of wizards. I have decided to make this a special project for you all, so as to start the year with something fun and entertaining. I will assign you all to groups of three or four – I said I'm making the groups (the students had started chattering, deciding who to group up with) – and I will assign each group to a certain species of Dark creatures. Now, since we are of two Houses here today, I am afraid that I shall have to split up the Houses, since we do not always have class together. Now, please Gryffindors on my left and Hufflepuffs on my right. Now snap to it!"

Most students had fallen into a stupor during his long speech, and therefore they were slightly dazed as to what was to be done. Lily and Alan, however, were wide-awake – Alan stating his unhappiness that they were to be split up and Lily climbing over the tables in order to get as far away from him as possible. Unfortunately, the only empty seat was one next to James Potter. Groaning, she plopped down into the seat next to him, and tried to ignore the fact that he was as unhappy at the seating arrangement as she was.

"Now that we have been split up, I will assign you –" he began, but a sudden interruption caused him to stop.

"Hurry up, Suzie, we're already – late," Sammy shrieked, but her voice fell when she skidded into the full classroom. Lily perked up when she saw them, but cowered once more when she saw Inkle's face.

"Five points will be taken away from Gryffindor, ladies. Now sit down. I hope from now on that you will never be late – for your own good. Hurry up and sit down before I add a detention to go along with that!" he barked. The girls flinched under his words and sulked along to the very back, sitting with a couple of Hufflepuff girls who took one look at them and stuck their noses in the air, apparently disgusted with their ragged appearance and disgraceful entrance.

Lily turned back to look at them, shook her head, and sighed. At least they didn't have to sit next to Potter. But afraid to cost Gryffindor any more points, she looked straight at her teacher and didn't turn back anymore.

"Now, first I will call out the Hufflepuff groups: Nick Jackson, Janice Parker, Aidan Ross, and Nadine Williams; Garrett Slinger, Michel Johns, and Mark Donaldson; Martha Summers, (A/N: This name is in my other fic. Sorry for the lack of creativity but I'm running out of names…) Serena Slander, and Matthew Jacobs; and finally, Alan Wilkes, Maria Serrano, Scott Matthews, and Nadia Williams. Please get with your groups. Creatures will be assigned by group number."

There was a swish of cloaks, rustling of papers, and a quiet murmuring as the Hufflepuffs rearranged themselves, silently muttering their disapproval or happiness at the groups.

"Settle down, everyone. Now, Gryffindors: Samantha Rogers, George Davis, Frank Longbottom, and Sirius Black; (at this, both Sirius and Sammy groaned their displeasure, and glared at one another) Peter Pettigrew, Mina Matheson, and Pooja Kamala; Remus Lupin, Katherine Hopkins, and Suzanne Urban; Liliane Evans, (Lily glared at the professor), John Turnwell, Jackie Northing, and James Potter. Get together, class, and I will assign the creatures, chop, chop!"

Once again, Lily groaned. She had seen the groupings as a way of getting away from James, but now she was stuck with him for a week or more. She slouched down in her chair, and wrinkled her nose at the sight of Jackie and John approaching them hand-in-hand. Neither James nor Lily could fathom why eleven-year-olds bothered finding classmates of the opposite sex who had a fancy for them. It seemed to be a complete waste of time.

"Alright, _alright, settle down, Gryffindors. Now, Group Number One from both Houses – your Dark creature is the kappa. Twos have the red cap and both the Group Threes have the boggart. Group Four – you have the werewolf. Oh – I don't think I mentioned it, but you will not be given any help from any of the professors nor will you be allowed to work with your counterpart groups in other Houses. Any attempt to break this rule will result in an automatic zero on your grade for this project."_

On hearing this, everyone groaned again. But Lily, instead, raised her hand and shook it violently, nearly knocking James' hat off his head.

"Now will everyone please settle down – uh, Miss Evans, you wish to ask me something?" he asked, rather surprised at her sudden ferocity in her attempt to speak to him.

"Well, supposing only _one person breaks the rule – will the whole group get the punishment?" Lily asked, biting her lip._

Professor Inkle furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before replying, "No – I do believe that would be unfair. Therefore, only the disobedient student will receive the punishment. Perhaps I should change it to a detention – or two… Yes, two detentions would probably be better. Does that answer your question, Miss Evans?" Inkle said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes – thanks Professor…" Lily said, looking away from him so as to hide her smile. Her eyes were sparkling in a way that made James very uncomfortable.

Her friends noticed the evil glint in her eyes, and grinned at one another. "I wonder what Lily's got up her sleeve. I hope it's something good – we really need to do something to get back those guys for trying to pull the same prank as us – and making _us get late…" Pooja whispered to Suzanne who was sitting in front of her._

"Sorry to bust your bubble, honey, but she doesn't know that they were causing the trouble. And another piece of advice – don't go blabbing around to the whole world – everyone'll want to know how we know about what the boys did… After all, we're to blame too, I guess – but just shut up and work with your group," Suzanne replied. "Remus is shooting me dirty looks and Mina looks as though she's going to rip Peter's throat out…," she added softly.

For once, the silence in the classroom had not been filled with snores and Professor Inkle's monotonous voice, but with the rustling of papers and the scratching of quills – even an occasional giggle or a cry of frustration.

"Hey, Evans – how do you tell the difference between a normal wolf and a werewolf?" James asked Lily suddenly.

Lily bit her lip and thought for a while, and then answered, "Werewolves are bigger I think – and their snouts or longer or something or other like that. And I think their feet have fewer toes – or are there more? I don't know – something or other like that. Werewolves are stronger any way. And _Potter, don't call me Evans."_

"Okay – thanks for giving me the info, _Liliane," James said._

"Don't call me Liliane, either," Lily said ferociously through gritted teeth.

"If you say so, Tiger Lily…" James said, surprised that she could get so worked up over her name.

Lily just sighed and went back to her work. She didn't want to admit it, but she liked that nickname – Tiger Lily. A small smile escaped her, but she shook herself up almost immediately and went back to poring through her book.

"You two really should try and get along. We'll never finish in time if you don't," Jackie told them.

Both Lily and James were shocked. They looked at each other and then looked back at Jackie as though she was insane.

"Jackie's right – even if _you two don't want to, at least cooperate so that we can finish this project. The two of us want good grades even if you two don't," John snapped._

This shocked the two even more. They were actually asking them to get along. They had never thought that their feuds had bothered anyone else – but here were two of their classmates practically begging them to be friends. James opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but Lily answered them first.

"You're mental – both of you. Are you actually asking me to get along with that git? You've got to be kidding!" Lily burst. Her expression softened a little as she said, "It's not as though we haven't tried…"

James looked at her – confused. First she had called them mental – then she had called him a git – and after that she had said that they had tried together to be friends. Sure, her first and last statements were true, but she had still confused him.

"Well, you can't go on hating one another forever. At least try not to spend all your time hurling insults every which way. If you concentrate on work maybe you'll forget about your feud."

This made both of them think for a while. This was something neither of them thought would happen – they were being taught to be nice by a pair of twits. _But it's worth giving a try, thought Lily. She didn't make her thoughts known, but instead bent her head over her work again._

"Yeah, whatever – let's just work, okay?"

"Uh – work, right…" James said unsurely.

Four tables away, Sammy was having problems with her partners. Two of them were working just fine – it was the fourth with whom she was having the problems.

"So kappas have lanterns hanging from their tails to lure travelers out of dark places to their death. Okay, I finally got that right. At least there's one thing I know for sure – they live in Japan," Sirius said, finally glad that he had gotten something correct – or so he thought.

"No, Sirius – you've got it all _wrong. Kappas live in __Mongolia, not Japan!" Sammy shrieked._

"What proof do _you have that they live in Magnolia? Where is that anyway?" Sirius said, skeptical._

Sammy couldn't help giggling. "It's not Magnolia, dummy! You make me think of our street – Magnolia Crescent… But anyway, it's _Mongolia – on the border of China."_

"And you know this because…" Sirius asked.

"Suzanne told me she went there once to visit an uncle who lives there. He works at an organization that collaborates with some Muggle TV show called National Graphic or something. And I also happened to win five Geography Bees in a row in Year Four in primary school."

"Jeez – I remember that. I couldn't answer anything right except for the bit on the American colonies. And you just went up there and answered everything as though you had the answer key right in front of your eyes," Sirius said, shaking his head slightly. They had both gone to the same Muggle School before Hogwarts – and even though their friendship had almost come to an end in their second year – when James moved in – they had still been classmates. James' parents hadn't liked the idea of sending their son to a Muggle school.

"Do you remember Adrian? We called him the Bug-Catcher because of all the worms and flies he used to catch and put in the teacher's desk," Sammy said, smiling absentmindedly, and staring into space.

"Yeah – and then there was Maggie and Aggie – the twins, remember? They looked exactly the same but they were exact opposites. Maggie was the pickiest and most stubborn of all the girls in school – even you, Sammers – and Agatha was the biggest _tomboy in the school," Sirius said, grinning at her as though they were still friends._

They both sighed together, and grinned at one another. But almost immediately, Sammy realized that she was supposed to his enemy, and looked away, biting her lip so hard that she thought it would bleed. Not knowing what to say or do, she started twirling her hair around her index finger, still biting her lip hard, her eyes darting from one side of the classroom to the other. She didn't want anyone to know that she had been having a decent conversation with Sirius again.

Sirius on the other hand was thinking hard. He had never thought he would miss talking to Sammy. But then again, he had never thought he would end up being her enemy either. Why couldn't their relationship go back to what it was before? They had grown up like brother and sister, and now – it seemed as though sibling rivalry was too mild a term to describe their enmity. Surely just being friends with someone new wasn't reason enough to make her hate him. Okay, so when James moved in Sirius practically forgot about Sammy. But he didn't hate her. The truth was that he had thought that James would think he was sissy and a girl-lover if he knew that Sirius' best friend was a girl. But after time, he had forgotten her, being too wrapped up in playing Quidditch and doing things with his new best friend. Sammy had become a thing of the past.

Sirius wanted to tell her he was sorry, and ask if they could start afresh now that were starting afresh in school, but he wasn't sure whether she would buy his story or not. It wasn't her fault. He decided that he'd ask her later.

Professor Inkle, who had been walking down the aisles and inspecting the students' work, was almost at their table. He picked up a book quickly and started to read. But he found it hard to do. The words blurred before his eyes and he couldn't concentrate. He tried to force his mind to stay in focus but everything just swirled around in front of him.

_Oh jeez, don't let me cry now, not now. Everyone's going to laugh at me and James will abandon me for sure now. Come on, I haven't cried since I was four, why start now? Pull yourself together, man._

Just as Professor Inkle was about reach their table, the alarm on Sirius' watch went off. He jumped up with a cry as though someone had poked him in the behind with a pin.

"Aah – oh, sorry, Professor, sir – I – that is, my alarm went off. Uh, I think class is over now…" Sirius said, staring at the floor, and scratching his head.

James was grinning at him, Remus was shaking his head, and everyone except for Mina and Peter were snickering. Mina had been too busy screaming at Peter and Peter had been too preoccupied trying to get his pencil off of the floor with Mina holding on to the collar of his robes to notice what had happened. He looked at Sammy, and she seemed to be shaking with silent laughter. He smiled slightly and thought –_ five, four, three, two, one – blast off._

On 'blast off' Sammy exploded. She hadn't been able to keep her laughter inside any longer and she had rolled back in her chair and had started laughing as hard as was possible for her. She tried her best to stop herself, but it was to no avail. Soon everyone was laughing along with her.

"You're – such – a – such a – blundering fool – Sirius!" she choked out, smiling up at him.

Sirius looked at her and grinned widely. He no longer had to ask her anything – she had known what was in his mind and had answered already.

"Enough is _enough! Class is dismissed – now please __leave!" Professor Inkle yelled over everyone's voice._

Everyone filed out quickly, all except Sirius, Sammy and their friends. Lily was about to go up to Sammy and ask her what happened, but decided that it would be better to ask her later – when the boys weren't around. She grabbed Suzanne's arm and dragged her out.

"What are you –"

"Don't ask questions," Lily said quickly. Pooja saw the two of them going and decided to follow.

Sammy opened her mouth to say something to Sirius but saw the boys listening and shut her mouth quickly and stared at the floor. She muttered a quick, "See you later," and walked away slowly. James grinned at Sirius and Remus winked at him. Sirius glared back and contemplated whether or not to call after her. He finally decided not to. Remus, James, and Peter were already on the verge of teasing him for the rest of the afternoon, so instead he walked slowly out of the classroom, pretending that he couldn't hear the catcalls James and Remus were sending his way. They followed him out and took him by surprise as they linked their arms into both of his. Peter was running behind them on his squat legs trying to catch them up.

"So, Sirius, what's up with you that old acquaintance of yours?" James said casually.

"Nothing's up, okay? We've just – how do I put it – we've just reinstated our friendship…" Sirius said, at a loss for words.

"I see," Remus said skeptically.

"What – you don't believe me?" Sirius asked him.

"I think you know the answer to that."

Sirius rolled his eyes and shook his head at them. They continued walking towards their Common Room. (They didn't have any more classes that day.)

"Honestly, I don't go jumping into things like you guys do. I take one-step at a time. It's not like what you think. Look, she's been sore at me for ages 'cause of you, James. Ever since you moved in, I've pretty much ignored her, even though – well, we were best friends before you moved in next door.

"You met her once, I think. Do you remember the girl who was swinging on the tire from the tree on the house across the street? You asked me who she was once, but I refused to answer because I didn't want you to find out that I had ever been friends with – with a girl. I know this sounds really stupid, but I didn't want you to think I was a sissy baby or anything because my best friend was a girl. And, well, it continued like that to the point where I never thought of her or anything. Sure, I still saw her in school – the Muggle School I went to – but I avoided her as much as possible. After the summer of fourth grade, I never even saw her – until the train ride here, of course. To Hogwarts, I mean.

"She's changed quite a bit – totally and completely. She does her hair differently, she's a lot more boyish, though she was always a bit of a tomboy, but she's still as stubborn as she used to be. That's for sure. And her laugh – it'll always be the same. Whenever she laughed at me, she would try and hold it in for a while so as not to hurt my feelings or anything, but five seconds and she'll explode – just like she did today," Sirius said, smiling slightly.

"Sirius – James – Remus – wait up!" Peter squeaked from behind them. They had been walking relatively slowly, but Peter was in no position to walk at the same speed. Mina had finally given up on him doing anything and had retreated after untying his shoelaces. He had tripped over them on his attempt to leave the classroom, had fallen over a number of desks, and now had a large cut running down his leg.

"Crikey, Peter, how'd you get cut like that?" Remus asked, bending down on his knees so as to inspect his leg.

"Mina untied my shoelaces without me knowing, and when I followed you guys out I tripped over them and crashed into the desks. I tore my robes too, look," he said, twitching his robes so that the tear was visible.

"I say, that Mina has a serious attitude problem. I saw her screaming at you. Strange that Professor Inkle didn't say anything," James said, scratching his head.

"Who else was in your group?" asked Remus.

"The Indian girl – Pooja, but she didn't do much. She was trying to talk to Suzanne the whole time," Peter answered.

"Jeez – you'd better talk to Professor Inkle. He might let you change groups or something – but I doubt it," Sirius suggested.

"Can I just go to the Hospital Wing first?" Peter said, wincing in pain.

"Sure thing, Pete – just hang on, okay?" James told him, grabbing his arm, and putting it around his shoulder. Sirius did the same thing with his other arm.

"Come on, Remy – you're lagging behind," Sirius called back. James and Sirius had started running along supporting Peter. They looked strangely like entrants in a six-legged race, except for the middle two legs, which belonged to Peter, were not touching the ground. (His height was two feet less than that of the other three.)

"You three are acting like three-year-olds," Remus told them.

"Do you mean each of us are acting like three-year-olds or the three of us combined?" James asked him, grinning.

"The latter – sorry about the confusion…" Remus said, rolling his eyes at his friends.

The four continued on – stopping only to leave Peter with Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse. Upon reaching their Common Room, they saw the four girls huddled together in a corner. By the looks of it, Sirius had the feeling that Sammy had related everything to her friends too. When they heard the boys' entrance, the four heads turned their way. Lily was grinning like an idiot, and Sammy was blushing furiously. The three boys exchanged looks. Then, Suzanne got up clumsily and walked over to them, staring at the floor.

"I – that is _we – well, we want to – to – well, basically we want to know if you guys are willing to just forget about whatever happened within the past week. We barely know one another, and yet we hate each other. We decided that it wasn't very fair of us to judge you guys without really getting acquainted first, and we hope you guys think the same. So – well, we were wondering if you guys were just willing to forgive and forget – you know that sort of thing. We are – so how's about it?" Suzanne said in a rush, as she held out her hand._

It took the three boys a while to understand what she had been telling them. They weren't yet used to her strange American accent, and the fact that she probably was the fastest speaker in the West didn't help. But when they finally absorbed all that she had said, they forced a smile at her. Remus took her outstretched hand and shook it.

"We're fine with it if you are," he said, grinning.

"Ya hear that, guys?" Suzanne called back, withdrawing her hand. "It's all okay!"

"Yeah, whatever – guys let's go," James said. He had never cared much for sentiment or girls. Besides, he wanted to work on their DADA project. The sooner they got done, the sooner he could get rid of Jackie and her stupid philosophies.

"We're right behind you," Remus answered, and followed James up the stairs. Sirius hesitated a bit, but then decided that it was best to go on. But Sammy got up and stopped him.

"I want to talk to you about – stuff," she said to him. Before he could answer, she grabbed his hand and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Sammy what –" Sirius began, but he stopped when Sammy let go.

"Sirius, I don't know why you did it, but I hope you've realized that it's not worth it."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, even though he knew exactly.

"I'm talking about this whole thing with you and James and me. We were best friends, Sirius – _best friends. And all of a sudden Potter comes along and what happens to me? I just become a dream – a very bad dream, wasn't I? But you can forget dreams – they're easy to forget. But what about reality, Sirius – can you forget that? Can you forget about happiness and emotions, especially those that are strong? You may have forgotten about the old Sammy – the seven-year-old who pushed you so hard on the tire-swing that you fell off and had to get stitches on your nose – but the new one – the __real one, has come back. And I'm not leaving, whether you like it or not."_

Sirius was rather stunned by her speech. He had expected her just to ask him why he hadn't been talking to her for the past three years. In stead, she had lectured him.

"Sammers, I didn't mean to. If you knew why I did it, you would understand."

"Oh, so you had a _reason, did you? And what reason was that? Did you think I would beat you up if you brought your new friend over to my house? Were you too scared that you wouldn't have any friends if James caught you playing with a girlie?" Sammy taunted. She didn't realize that she had hit the nail right on the head._

"The latter would be more accurate…" Sirius muttered.

"So you dumped me in order for James to like you. That's typical of you Sirius. You take everything –"

"Oh, so now it's entirely _my fault, is it? How was I supposed to know that you really were all girly at heart and start crying?"_

"You idiot, I did _not cry. I'd have to be the most imbecilic being on the planet to cry over __you."_

Sirius didn't know how to answer that so he settled for glaring back at her.

"Listen – in case you hadn't realized, I wanted to apologize to you for everything," he said harshly. But it was in a softer tone that he added, "I never thought I'd say it, but I kind of missed not having you around."

Sammy looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

He grinned at her and said, "I mean, after spending nine years of my life listening to your constant chattering and forcing myself to get used to it, it would be hard not to."

"Very funny, Black – just tell me, did you _ever manage to tell Potter about me?" Sammy asked him._

"No, I never told him anything. At least, I didn't until today. He asked me what was going on – both he and Remus thought we were going out, can you imagine? But I told him pretty much everything after class."

"I see, and –" she began, but she stopped when they heard footsteps coming their way.

"Sammers, come on in. We need you to – uh – help us with – um – Transfiguration," Pooja said, stumbling for words. She didn't dare let Sirius in on what they were _really doing._

"Yeah, hang on – I'm coming," she called back. Turning back to Sirius, she said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess…" and followed Pooja through the portrait hole.

When they were through, Pooja asked hurriedly, "Did he ask you out?"

"What – are you _nuts? We're just __friends, dummy." And with those words, she picked up her stuff and walked up to their dorm._

"Guys – I think we've got more work to do," Pooja said to the rest of them, as soon as they heard the slam of a door.

"What do you mean by that?" Suzanne asked.

"Well, instead of a prank, let's work on some real cupid business."

"What are you getting at?" asked Lily, as surprised as her other friend.

"I mean, let's get Sam and Black together."

"It's not going to work, but if you want, you can go ahead and try it," Lily said, getting up and dusting off her robes. "I prefer getting the boys in trouble with Professor Inkle. We just have to find some stuff of Remus' or something, and hide it in James' things and they'll be caught. I hate to get Remus in trouble, he seems pretty nice, but James is awful."

"Uh, can we sleep on it?" Suzanne asked. "All this thinking is giving me a headache."

"Good idea – and Pooja, don't count on it."

"Don't count on what?"

"Don't count on getting Sirius and Sammers together. It is definitely not going to work."

"That's what you think. I know Sam from before Hogwarts – almost as long as Sirius knew James. I've got a chance at this. You just do your work and I'll do mine," Pooja answered, a strange look in her eyes. Lily hesitated, but then decided that it was best to leave Pooja to her own devices. She'd figure out sooner or later.

"Let's _go, guys," Suzanne whined again, this time from the foot of the staircase._

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming Suzie."

The three walked up, hoping to worm something out of Sammy, but she had apparently fallen asleep.

_This has got__ to work. It just has to. And I know exactly how to make it work, thought Pooja. She was sure that for once, her brain wouldn't let her down._

*


	11. Friendship At Last

A/N: Chapter 11 – whoa, I never thought I'd make it _this far! Thanks to all you guys who reviewed – you guys kept me going, no matter __how many flames I got._

*

"Sirius get up before I hex you!"

"You expect me to believe that you'll actually be able to do that?"

"Forgive me if I sound like James this morning, okay? But please just _wake up!"_

"Oh, Remy, it's you. I thought James was threatening me, so I didn't listen. You know how pathetic he is with charms, hexes, and things. Are you okay? You sound kind of croaky…"

"I – I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about me…" Remus said quickly.

"Are you sure, Remus?" Sirius asked, slightly suspicious of Remus' defensiveness.

"I told you already – I'm _fine."_

"Okay, okay – no need to get worked up. You just seemed slightly out of it just now…" Sirius said, surveying his friend with bewilderment on his face.

"I get the point, now let's _go."_

"Yeah, yeah, keep your boxers on. Where's James, anyway?"

"He went down ages ago to the library. He seems really interested in that project Inkle's assigned us."

"Wonder why…" Sirius said, as he tied his shoelaces. "Okay, mate, let's go. I'm guessing Peter's gone too?"

"No – he's still asleep. I didn't feel like waking him. It's a Saturday, after all," Remus said, shrugging.

"Then why'd you wake me up?" Sirius asked heatedly.

"Supposing I hadn't woken you up until your stomach started growling so much you _had to wake up, what would you have done?"_

"I would have yelled at you, asking you why you hadn't woken me up. I know – I know. Well, let's go already."

The two walked along, not talking much. Both were immersed in their own thoughts. Sirius was busy thinking about the past day's events, and Remus was pondering his own personal situation.

If there was one thing Remus feared, it was that his friends would learn of his deepest secret. And what was this secret? He was a werewolf. (A/N: Okay – I know you probably know this, but I'm mentioning it anyway.) This explained the reason why he hadn't been able to join Hogwarts last year, when he really had turned eleven.

The previous Headmaster, a Professor Diamantine, had refused to allow those without pure wizard blood into the school. Only due to the Ministry's influence, he had admitted a few Muggleborns, but the list ended there. Squibs, werewolves, those with vampire-relations, and other such people were not allowed in, no matter what their past was.

Dumbledore had been the Transfiguration Professor until this year, when he had been appointed Headmaster as Diamantine retired. Almost immediately, he hired a number of new professors and modified the curriculum for each year so that a number of new subjects were added. He took in the few students that had been rejected, and the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Orenstein, sent out letters to all the eleven-year old wizards and Muggles who were to start at Hogwarts that year.

So it was that Remus came to Hogwarts. He had fitted in with the other students well enough. But would his friends still be his friends if they found out about his identity? Remus decided it would be best if he made up excuses each time the full moon came around.

The two boys walked up to the Gryffindor table to see James sitting there already. Sirius slid in next to him, and Remus sat down on his other side.

"Hey guys – what took you?" James asked as they started to grab their toast and sausages.

"Well – I had to wake Sirius up. You know what he's like on Friday nights. And I guess we were just walking slowly."

"Oh, I see. Uh, Remus, are you feeling okay? You look a little off-color this morning."

"I'm fine! Why do you people keep pestering me? Just mind your own business, okay?" Remus snapped.

"Sorry mate – didn't mean to make you mad."

Remus – realizing that he shouldn't have yelled – decided to tell them something that would keep them quiet for a while. "Look, guys – yesterday, I got a letter from my dad. He says my sis is going to the States to look for a job out of the country, and he wants me to go and see her off."

"You have a sister? You never told us that. How old is she?" Sirius asked, his eyes glinting.

"She's nineteen so I suggest you don't get your hopes up. I did say she was getting a _job – you don't expect an eleven-year-old to immigrate to another country looking for jobs, do you?"_

"Hey – if she's nineteen than my sister probably knows her. They would've been in the same year at Hogwarts."

"Uh, Riana didn't go to Hogwarts… We lived in – in the States at the time, so she went to a school there…"

"You guys lived in America? You know, Remus, there's a lot of stuff you haven't told us," James said, looking at Remus with an awkward expression on his face.

"You're right about that…" Remus muttered to himself. _This lie is turning out to be a lot bigger than I had expected. I sure hope they don't try to find anything else out – if they ask my dad about Miss Riana Lupin I'm going to be in soup. I don't even have a sister. I've never been to the States. I – jeez, I'm going to have to carry this on for another six years…_

"What did you say?" James asked again.

"Nothing – well, James, Sirius tells me you've actually been studying for a change."

"Inkle's project… I'm stuck with Evans and those two handholding freaks. Plus Lily's got some idea of hers brewing – obviously to get us in trouble. It's got something to do with how Inkle's going to fail us if we're caught asking others for help…"

"He changed it remember? If you get caught, then you just get a detention. What do you think she can possibly do, anyway?" asked Remus.

"What would you do if you were trying something like this? You're forgetting that she's a whiz at Charms."

"Change the topic, guys. They're coming," warned Sirius, as he glanced at the marble staircase, where the four girls could be seen coming down, chattering away casually. The three boys fell silent immediately.

"Lily, do you really think this is going to work?" Suzanne asked her friend.

"I still have to perfect parts of it – like how we're going to do everything without being seen and such. And there's always the fact that they could find out and do it back to us… Or we could get caught and get detentions ourselves," Lily said, shuddering.

"I don't know. This seems a bit _too mean, Lily. Are you sure that it's worth it? Maybe we should do something else," Sammy said unsurely._

"Hmm – I guess you're right, but it's always worth a try, right? We could come in at the last moment and make Professor Inkle change his mind and then they would owe us a favor…"

"Cross your bridges when you come to them," Suzanne muttered.

"Excuse me?" Lily asked.

"I mean, don't think of what you're _going to do until you've planned everything before that. If you're not sure of what you're going to do __first, don't do the last part yet."_

"Oh – I think I understand – but I'm still not quite sure," Lily said slowly, her head tilted to one side.

"It would probably be helpful if you guys talk about something else, unless of course you want the guys to know about your little prank?" Pooja said, as they approached the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, Sam…" Sirius muttered as the girls made as to sit down. "Ouch – what was that for, James?" he screeched as James nudged him in the ribs.

Sammy smiled, shook her head, and sat down next to Lily at the end of the table. The other two girls sat down as well, but whereas Pooja was silent, Suzanne tried her best to strike up conversation with the boys.

"Hey, Remus, you look kind of sick..." Suzanne told him, genuinely concerned.

"So I've heard," he answered dully.

"Is something wrong?" she pressed.

"His sister's leaving to go back to the States," James explained, "and his dad wants him to go home to see her off."

"What do you mean 'to go back'?" Suzanne asked.

"They used to live there before. Hey, you're from America, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm from Miami. Hey, Remus, where did you guys live?"

"We lived in – uh – Washington."

"Do you mean Washington State or Washington DC?"

"Why are you asking me all of these questions?" Remus asked her suddenly.

"I don't know."

"Do you mind talking to someone else for a while?" he asked again.

"Okay – I didn't mean to annoy you. I can understand if you're sad and stuff about your sis. Do either of you have siblings?" she asked James and Sirius.

"I've got a sister – same age as Remus'. But James is an only child – lucky bug."

"Don't you like your sister?"

"Are you kidding? Living with her is sheer torture. How can you even ask such a question?" Sirius screamed.

Suzanne laughed and replied, "I have an older brother, but he's real cool. He didn't come to Hogwarts, though. He preferred staying in America. And in case you're wondering, he's fifteen – and a prefect at the place he goes."

"My sister was a prefect too, but she didn't get to be Head Girl even though she really wanted to," Sirius said. "It's a good thing too, or else she'd probably expect me to be Head Boy when I'm in seventh."

"Do you guys play Quidditch?" Suzanne asked.

"Do we play Quidditch? Hell, yeah – I mean, that's practically all we do except for annoy our mums and his sis. I do the Chasing, and he does the Beating. My dad plays every now and then, so he plays Keeper," James said energetically.

"Oh, rad – I used to be Seeker when my friends and I used to play back home. We could be a proper team!" Suzanne exclaimed happily. 

"Hey, Suzanne, Sam told me that you've been to Magnolia near China. What's it like there?" Sirius asked suddenly, trying to avoid the fact that Pooja had just winked at Sammy.

"What are you talking about? A magnolia is a flower," Suzanne said, looking at him as though he was insane.

"Oh, then, I don't know what it's called but wherever your uncle works near China."

"Mongolia – yeah, I've been there. It's cool, I guess, but I don't remember very well. I was just seven when I went."

"Mongolia, huh – where else have you been?" asked James.

"I don't remember going anywhere else. We did go to France once to visit my mom's relatives. She's French, you know. What kind of places have you been to, Sirius?"

"What is this – twenty questions or something? And I haven't been anywhere except for here. I've lived in the same house for eleven years. You can ask Sammers to verify that."

Suzanne grinned and said, "Sorry about asking so much stuff, it's just that I don't really know anything about you guys, and I was curious."

"Don't worry – uh – Suzanne. Sirius probably enjoyed it," James said, winking at his friend.

"Shut up, James – first Sam, and now her. What is with you?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes. Turning to Suzanne, he said, "Forgive James, here. He's a bit short-sighted."

"I can see _that. Well, it's been nice talking to you three, but I guess I'd better go…" Suzanne muttered, grabbing a piece of toast and walking away, dragging Pooja behind her._

"Uh, well, see you round," James called after her. Once she was out of earshot, he whispered into Sirius' ear, "She's a weird one, Suzanne. She seems nice enough – a bit too nice if you ask me – but there's something weird about her."

"Yeah, I guess so. She talks too much, but otherwise I guess she's okay. But we should find out if she's really good at Seeking. Then maybe next year the three of us can sign up."

"Listen – James, Sirius – I think I'll go down to the Hospital Wing. My head's reeling like anything and I feel kind of queasy. I'll see you later, okay?" Remus told them, clutching his head and walking off.

"Something's definitely up with Remus. He can't miss his sister so much that he feels sick, can he? I mean, I'd never feel that way about _mine," Sirius said._

"Yeah, but then I guess he must have been really attached to her. Or rather, he still _is attached to her. His sister probably isn't like yours," James guessed. "Anyway, what do you want to do today?"_

*

"Suzie, don't you see? It's perfect," Pooja said, trying her best to justify herself.

"I don't know, Pooj. It seems kind of far-fetched. I mean, what proof do you have that they liked each other before? I don't think this is going to work. After all, they _are only eleven. I doubt anyone could possibly think of a guy like __that when they're only eleven – not counting Jackie – even if they have been neighbors and best friends ever since they were born."_

"_Suzanne, you're not helping. Look, I know that they've had a fight, but I know how to make sure that they get out of it. They're already friends."_

"But they're not going to go any further. Why don't you just wait a few years? I mean, they've never seriously liked each other in the past, have they?"

"Sirius kissed her once," Pooja supplied.

"Really – when was that?" Suzanne asked, suddenly interested in what she had to say.

"It was sometime when they were six."

"Well that explains it. Jeez, Pooja, six-year-old kisses don't mean anything! I was even kissed by some stupid guy when I was around that age!"

"When Sammy went with her dad to France Sirius missed her. It was sometime when they were eight, and they went because Sammy's dad was supposed to get a job there. But I don't think it worked out, or else she would have gone to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts."

"Give it up, Pooja. When they were eight they were still friends, remember?"

"Oh, alright – but don't you think that they should?"

"That who should what?"

"Don't you think that Sammy and Sirius are perfect for one another, and that they should seriously consider getting together?" Pooja said in a rush.

"That remains to be seen. Now can we go? This isn't exactly the best place to talk. My feet have fallen asleep – and it's only been ten minutes."

Suzanne crawled out from behind the couch where they had been talking and stretched out her back. She walked over to the other side of their Common Room where Lily and Sammy were discussing how to get James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter into trouble.

"Hey guys, how's it coming?" Suzanne asked.

Lily was about to answer, but Sammy spoke cutting her off.

"I'm still not sure whether or not we should really go through with the whole set up. I mean, sure they've been mean and stuff, but I think we're doing extra in getting our own back. Think about it."

"You know, Lily, I've been thinking. Sammy's right – this is _way too much. How would you feel if you got a detention for doing nothing?" Suzanne said._

"I'd feel terrible – but that's the whole point here, guys," Lily whined.

"I think you're being a little heartless there, Lils," Sammy commented.

"What would you know about being heartless, Samantha?"

"Don't call me that," Sammy said through gritted teeth.

"Should I call you Sam, then? That's what Sirius calls you, isn't it? Or do you prefer Sammers?"

"Shut up, Lily! What's gotten into you?" Sammy exclaimed, as she looked at Lily in disbelief.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Sammy. I shouldn't have blown up like that. It's just that – I don't know – this week's been so strange. On Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, I thought that you three and the guys were the nicest people in the world. Then nearly immediately, everything falls apart. We're two different cliques. And then _again, we try to be friends – James and I – but it doesn't work. And suddenly, Suzanne comes and says, 'It's all okay – we can be friends.' I just don't get it. I don't get it at all. I've never had friends before, but I've never had what you could call an enemy either. I don't know how to act with people. I don't know how to make friends or how to be nice or anything. I'm just – me – just me._

"I don't know who my friends are and who aren't. It's all so confusing. Petunia – my sister – used to make sure that I hadn't any friends. I usually stayed by myself so no one really bothered to make an enemy out of me either. None of my parents' friends ever visited our house with their kids, and my parents usually wanted me out of the way when they came over. I never met anyone outside of school. Petunia hated me so much that she usually just pretended that I didn't exist, and her friends never found out that she even _had a sister until they came to our house for a sleepover once._

"Don't you see? I don't know anything. And the fact that I'm a Muggle – well, it makes everything even more complicated. I've never been to a party in my life, and I've never invited anyone over to my house either. I don't know anyone who would even want to come over anyway. Okay, so maybe I could have _tried to make friends, but so many people idolized my sister that I didn't have a chance next to her. Here at Hogwarts – things seem so easy, but I don't know if they really are, or if I'm just making a fool out of myself. I can never tell if I'm where I belong or if everyone's putting on an act to make me feel that way, and later just laugh about the whole thing. I don't know where I am, what I'm doing, or if it's really worth it. I'm sure if you guys were in my place, you would understand everything going on, because you guys are from wizarding families already. I just feel so – I don't know. I feel as though I'm in the wrong place. I feel as though that letter was sent to the wrong Liliane Evans."_

"Lily, of course we're your friends. And you think you're feeling out of place? All of us are, Lily. We're all here for the first time, no matter what kind of families we come from. Hogwarts is our home away from home, don't you see? We're all a family when we're here. You idiot, how could you even think that we're just doing all this nonsense to make fun of you? Do you think this is all a joke or something – or a dream? Here I'll pinch you –" Pooja said, and as she leaned over to pinch Lily on the arm, Lily pulled it away.

"Okay, okay – I believe you!" she cried.

"You'd better," Sammy said, laughing.

"Right – well, now that all the sentimentalities are over, can we get back to work?" Suzanne asked, exasperated.

"You know, we should probably be getting our homework done…" Lily said. The other three answered with groans.

"Come on, Lils. I know that you don't want to do homework any more than we do, so why make us?" Pooja pleaded.

"Well if you don't do it now –"

"We can do it tomorrow. Let's just chill out for today," Suzanne decided.

"I don't know guys – we'll end up not doing it at all," Sammy said.

"You do it for us then. We'll risk getting the answers wrong. Hey, Suzie – do you want to play chess? I brought a set with me," Pooja said.

"Come _on, Pooj – listen to them for a change. I guess we should do our work. We can't exactly make them do our homework for us. We'll definitely get caught. Let's just get it over with, okay?"_

"Oh – alright, I will. But don't let's do our Defense project. It's so _boring."_

"You're stuck with Peter, aren't you? I pity you – but at least you're with Mina too. She's got a temper, but from what I could see, she only used it on Peter. They'll keep each other company and you can do the work undisturbed," Suzanne said casually.

"It's easier said than done. Besides, I don't _want to do all the work myself. What's the point of having groups then? Eh?" Pooja asked._

"Will you two stop it, already? We're doing our homework for History of Magic. It's due first, so let's get it out of the way," Sammy suggested.

The four finally settled down and pored through their books – occasionally scribbling down a few notes. It was silent for a while, until someone walked into the Common Room.

"That was a smashing practice, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it was. Even Wilson was happy with the job we'd done for a change."

"Matthews is an awesome Keeper. It's good that Wilson took her on this year. She's been trying for it for a couple of years now, but I guess he didn't want to replace the Finnigan girl. But now she's graduated, so we've got Matthews."

The boy and girl who had been talking walked into the Common Room, slightly startled to find the four first years gathered on the carpet. Both had brooms balanced on their shoulders, and the girl's hair was slightly ruffled. The boy's robes were splashed with mud.

"You're the new first years, aren't you?" asked the girl. "I'm Lisa – Lisa Jacobs. And this is Cameron Daley."

"I can introduce myself, thank you very much. But yeah, we're Lisa and Cam. We're on the Quidditch team. Are any of you interested in Quidditch? Wilson – that's our captain by the way – he'll be graduating himself this year, so we'll have a few empty spots, in case any of you would like to sign up next year."

"Oh – do you have a Seeker, by any chance?" asked Suzanne, her eyes shining.

"Wilson plays that spot, so it'll be open if you'd like to try for it," Lisa said. "Mind you, it's not a given that you'll get it. They're usually a lot of people who come to tryouts. It's not only second years."

"What about all of you guys – not interested, or do you just don't want to take the risk?" Cam asked, smiling.

"Um, this is probably a stupid question, but what exactly _is Quidditch?" Lily asked shyly._

"You're the Muggle kid, aren't you? Well there's nothing wrong with your question. I'm not sure if I can explain it, but it's basically the wizarding sport. You've got four balls, seven players on each team, and three goalposts at each end of the Quidditch pitch… And you play on broomstick."

"You should probably ask your friends for a better explanation. Cam isn't' very good at teaching," Lily said, getting a punch on the arm from her friend as she spoke.

"Ha – very funny, Lisa – well, we'll see you girls around, I guess."

The two split and went up to their dorms. Almost immediately, Suzanne cried out with excitement.

"I say, I'm definitely going to sign up! I just hope I make it…"

"You have to wait till next year, though. First years aren't even allowed to bring brooms. But you're right. It does sound really fun. It's really too bad that they just got a new Keeper, but maybe I can try for Chaser instead," Sammy said.

"I never knew that you played Quidditch. You never said anything about it."

"I know I didn't. But none of you ever asked. I used to play with Sirius when we were really little, but they weren't real games. We would just toss golf balls and apples to one another while flying around on toy broomsticks. I played once or twice with them after James moved in next door, but they didn't want a Keeper because it got too complicated with just three people."

"James said that his dad used to play with them as a Keeper. What about you, Pooja – don't you play?" Suzanne asked.

"I wouldn't go near a broomstick if my life depended on it. I can't fly for anything," she said, shaking her head.

"Will someone please tell me what Quidditch is all about before I lose it?" Lily cried.

"Oh, sorry, Lils – I forgot. Well, there are seven players on a team –" Sammy began, and the next couple of hours was spent teaching the basics of the game to Lily. Every now and then, one of the girls would tell a short anecdote of their flying experiences.

"It sounds fun, but are you sure it's safe?" asked Lily unsurely.

"It's safe enough. You might break a bone now and then if you get hit by a Bludger or if you get knocked of your broom, but it's nothing a little magic can't heal," Sammy said, winking.

"I'm guessing that's how the nurse keeps busy all year round. I would have wondered that she doesn't get bored of her job, but now that I've heard about Quidditch, I think I've changed my mind," Lily said, making the others laugh a little.

"Let's play chess. I haven't played in ages, and I'm out of practice. Sammers, come play," Pooja called from where she was sitting on the floor.

"No, I don't want to. Ask someone else," she answered, pulling out another textbook from her bag.

"Suzanne, will you?" Pooja asked, turning to the brunette who was also poring through a book – though not one for school.

"My brother makes me play with him all the time at home. I'm sick of chess," she replied. "Sorry, but ever since those two walked in, my minds been on Quidditch. Here, maybe you should read this. You'll like it. Hey, for all you know, you might start to enjoy flying. Take it – I have two copies." She handed over a copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages to Pooja._

Wrinkling up her nose at the book, she said, "I'll pass." Turning, she looked up at Lily with round puppy-eyes, she begged, "Please, Lily, play chess with me."

Lily couldn't help laughing at the face she was making. "Oh alright," she said, "I'll play with you. Mind you, I'm not very good."

Pooja's face lit up immediately. She flashed Lily a wide grin and immediately pulled out her chess set.

"Come on, Lily. Get yours out," she directed. But when she saw the confusion on Lily's face, she said, "Oh, I forgot – you wouldn't have a set for Wizarding Chess, would you? Suzie, give yours to Lils, over here."

"What – okay, but hang on. It's in my trunk. I'll be half a second, guys," Suzanne said as she bolted up the stairs. After a while of rummaging through the contents of her trunk, she ran back down.

"Here you go. You can keep them Lily. I bought them in Diagon Alley when I was buying my school stuff, and I was going to give them to my bro for Christmas, but you can have them instead. He has enough chess sets that he can use a different one each day of the week," she said, as she handed the pieces and board over to Lily. "Consider this as an early Christmas present. Mind you, you're getting anything else," Suzanne added grinning.

"I'm not?" Lily asked, mocking a pout.

"Are you going to pay for these, then?"

"Okay, you win. Help me set up, will you, Pooja?" Lily said.

"What do you mean 'set up'? Wizards' Chess is different from the kind of chess Muggles play, Lily. Here, watch them," Pooja said, as she put her pieces on the board. Lily watched, amazed, as the pieces automatically arranged themselves correctly. Eager to see if her own pieces would do the same, she dumped them out onto the board. They, too, positioned themselves on their own.

"Do they move on their own, too?" Lily asked in wonder.

To her surprise, before Pooja could answer, one of the Knights spoke up. "What do you take us for – invalids? Of course we can move on our own!"

"I say, this is cool!"

"Okay, can we play now? You go first – you're white."

Lily had played chess a couple times before, (besides the endless hours she spent trying to win against her computer) but she had never had the chance to become very good at it. Computers don't lose very easily.

Pooja, on the other hand, had spent endless hours playing against her father, who was nothing short of a professional chess player. Over the past few years, she had picked up chess the way one would learn their vocabulary. But her father still remained unbeaten. Pooja longed for the day when she could call out, "Check mate!" to her father. But until then, Lily would have to do – for she had lost – already.

"Check mate – in three moves, Lily – what happened?" Pooja asked.

"I'm not sure. Let's try again. Then, maybe, I can figure it out," Lily said, her brow furrowed.

They played several more games – each of which Pooja won. Lily was starting to get slightly bored of losing all the time.

Pushing the board away, she said, "Oh, play with someone else, Pooja. You're probably not getting any fun out of playing against me. I told you I wasn't good. Hey, Suzanne, you play. You're probably a good match for Pooja since you play with your brother all the time."

"What did you say?" Suzanne asked, tearing her eyes away from her book. She hadn't been paying attention to the two chess-players at all. She had been much too engrossed in her book to notice that Lily had lost horribly.

"You play. You'll be a good match for Pooja. You play. You'll be a good opponent. I'm not good enough to play against her. You play," Lily repeated.

"Did someone hit the replay button on you or something?" Suzanne asked as she got up and walked over to the two. "Okay, I'll play, but only one game, Pooja. Chess is too boring for me."

Lily shifted her position so that Suzanne could sit, but instead, Suzanne ran up the stairs and started going through her trunk again.

"Suzie, what are you doing?" Lily called up after her.

As she ran back down, she answered, "I'm getting _my chess set. It's always better to use one that's used to you. New ones are a slight disadvantage because it takes them a while to trust you. The ones I have are my brother's old ones, so they've been used quite a bit, but they're better than buying a new set that has to be broken in."_

"Why didn't you tell me that? And all this time I thought the reason this set wouldn't listen was because they fell offended that I didn't believe they could move on their own!" Lily said hotly.

"It skipped my mind. But you know now, so there's no need to get sore at me."

Lily got up and picked up Suzanne's book where it had fallen and proceeded to read it, but their chess game was so intense that she couldn't keep her eyes on the words for very long. Suzanne may not have been as good as Pooja, but she certainly was good enough to spot Pooja's weaknesses.

_She's very offensive. That's always the best tactic, but Pooja doesn't even keep her pawns around to block anyone. If I can get past her Knights and her Queen, I should be able to get a Check at the very least._

"It's about time – check!" Pooja said energetically.

"Wait – what just happened?" Suzanne asked snapping out of her trance.

"I checked you. I moved my bishop from here to there," Pooja answered, pointing.

"Oh, right – um, okay, I'll move my Queen then. And you can't kill it because it's covered by my knight, see?"

"Hmm, you're right. You're a lot better than I thought you'd be."

"Practice makes perfect, after all. But you're really good too. How'd you learn to play?"

"My dad's a pro at this game. My mom doesn't take much interest in it, but my dad's always into these thinking games. He taught me to play, and then he taught my younger sister."

"You've got a sibling too? That's funny; all of us do – except for Sammy, though. She's been left out."

"I've got enough cousins to last me a lifetime, thank you very much. I don't fancy having a younger sister following me about twenty-four seven, taking all my clothes, and messing up my room or an older brother to boss me around all the time. I'm fine on my own," Sammy said, pausing for a while to look down at her. But she looked back at her work almost immediately.

"You're always on your own, Sammy. Don't you ever wish you had someone your age to hang around with?"

"I do. You guys are there for me to 'hang around with' as you say," Sammy answered, this time without looking up.

"But what about in the summer – you'll be alone again."

"I'll find something to do. Don't worry about me. You've got to worry about Pooja's Queen – it's about to take that knight of yours that's covering _your Queen."_

"What – Oh, you're right…"

"Oh, Sammers, did you have to give me away? I say, have you been watching us? You seemed too interested in your homework," Pooja asked.

"You know how I detest History of Magic. It's got to be the most boring subject in existence."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess it could be interesting, it's just that the way old Binns lectures us in that monotonous voice, it makes me just want to fall asleep."

"I know what you mean. But I can't help worrying that I'm going to fail our exams at the end of the year if I don't manage to keep awake somehow," Lily said.

"Exams – we have to take exams?" Suzanne asked.

"We have to take one in every subject each year. And in fifth year we have to take our OWLs, and if seventh we have to take our NEWTs," explained Sammy.

"We _do? In the US, we just take tests once a term in each subject. That's it. I mean, we do take OWLs and NEWTs but we don't take yearly exams. Doing everything by the term makes things so much simpler because even if you forget everything at the end of the term, you won't need it again at the very end of the year. I can understand now why my brother said he preferred the school in Miami to Hogwarts," Suzanne groaned._

"What _are OWLs and NEWTs?"_

"Gosh, Lily, I keep forgetting about you. Sorry, but it's just that I'm not used to having to explain about all these wizard things. I've been with Muggles before, but I was never supposed to tell them about our kind – it's against the law. But you're okay! You got a letter so it's okay. We're supposed to tell you," Sammy said.

"It's okay. I understood – and even if I didn't, I know you wouldn't get mad at me for being a Muggle. But what are they?"

"OWLs are Ordinary Wizarding Levels. NEWTs are Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Uh, don't ask me why they named them like that, but that's what they're called. I'm not quite sure why we have to take them, but I do know that if you want to get a job at the Ministry, you have to get a full score in both," Pooja explained.

"Did they decide the names first or the short forms?" Lily asked.

"Don't ask me – I didn't invent them."

"Ooh, just wait till I get my hands on the person who _did…" Suzanne said flexing her fingers._

"Oh, Suzanne, you're acting like an idiot," Sammy giggled.

"She isn't acting. Didn't you know? She _is one!" Pooja teased._

"Oh, of course – it's my mistake."

"You guys are awful, really," Suzanne said, frowning.

"Aw, now she's all sad – poor little Suzie," Lily said, giggling.

"Liliane Evans, stop teasing me!"

"Hey, don't call me Liliane!" Lily screamed back.

"Then should I call you Tiger Lily? That's James' nickname for you now, isn't it?" Suzanne asked, getting up and backing away so that Lily couldn't do anything to her.

"Sirius calls Samantha Sam, and James calls Liliane Tiger Lily!" Pooja giggled. "I wonder why _they're the ones with the nicknames…"_

"You two are just so annoying!" Sammy and Lily shouted together.

"Is there something wrong with being annoying? I mean, I'm supposed to be annoying, but I don't see anything wrong with that," said someone.

The four girls spun around to face the portrait hole, and there they saw none other than James and Sirius standing there in the doorway.

"Talk of the devil…" Lily muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Sammy on the other hand, slightly pink, asked, "How long have you two been standing there?"

"I think it was since, 'Then should I call you Tiger Lily', wasn't it James?" Sirius asked the boy next to him.

"Yeah, I think that's about right," he replied.

Now it was Lily's turn to blush. She didn't say anything however. She didn't think she was capable of opening her mouth without screaming.

"Uh, Lily, we should – um – get going on Inkle's project. I've been looking for John and Jackie but I couldn't find them, so it looks like we've got to work on our own." In an undertone, James added,"I want to get it over with as soon as possible."

"Oh – um – okay then, I guess. I should be able to put up with the likes of you for a while," Lily said slowly.

"Give it a rest, will you?" James said slightly fed up with her never-ending insults.

"Yeah, whatever – just let me grab my things, okay?"

Suzanne nudged Pooja, who winked back. Then she spoke up. "What are you guys doing for your project, anyway?"

"Werewolves…" they answered together.

"What about you two, Sammy – Sirius?"

"We're researching kappas in Magnolia," Sammy said grinning.

"Hey, so what if I can't say it right? You don't have to rub it in," Sirius said, slightly hurt.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't help it…" Sammy giggled.

"Just don't explode on me, again, okay? You freaked me out more that day than my watch's alarm did."

"Well, it's not my problem you're scared of the teachers. If you hadn't been, you wouldn't have been all tensed up when Inkle walked by."

"I am _not scared of teachers, Sam! I just don't like it when people look over my shoulder."_

"I'm not as gullible as you think, Mr. Black. I know you too well for that."

"Oh really, well tell me something then, that no one else here knows – not even James."

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Sammy asked dangerously.

"I _dare you."_

"Sirius, you might not want to take this risk. She's known you since, like, forever, after all," James said unsurely.

"Don't worry – I've told you everything about me too, so there can't possibly be anything you don't know."

"No, there is something. Do you remember last Valentines' Day in fourth grade? When Amanda Dimes kissed you on the cheek, you wet your pants. What do you say to that, Mr. Black?" Sammy said curtly.

Apparently, Sirius didn't have anything to say to that. He merely turned a bright red and glared at Sammy. The others in the room, however, were roaring with laughter.

"I don't think you ever told me that, Sirius, old fellow. I dare say you were too embarrassed!" James said laughing.

"At least I didn't beat her up," Sirius choked out. "You punched every boy who gave you a valentine. And most of the boys showed up with valentines for the whole class, since the teachers said that if you brought one you had to bring one for the whole class."

"I didn't wet my pants when I opened each valentine, though, did I?" Sammy snapped.

"No, but you did cry when Sally Matthews slapped you across the face for beating up her brother."

"Sirius, she was a sixth grader three times my size! I'd like to see you hold your ground in such a situation."

"Break it up, guys. You're going way overboard in this whole thing," James said as he pushed them aside.

"Who are these people? And how do you know them?" Lily asked, interested. Sammy hadn't told her exactly how well she knew Sirius, or about for how long they had known one another.

"We went to a Muggle school before Hogwarts because our parents didn't want us to be sitting idle all the time. Uh, but otherwise we lived across the street from one another, so we knew each other – relatively well," explained Sirius.

"But what hap –"

"Uh, bye – I got to go… I've to check on Remus…" Sirius muttered quickly and dashed out before Lily could finish her question.

Lily laughed and said, "What _did happen between you two that made you so mad at him, Sammy?"_

"I can answer that," James interrupted. "I moved in next door to Sirius and ever since we became friends, he'd been ignoring Sammy. It's kind of stupid, really, but he thought I wouldn't like him if I knew his best friend for nine years had been a girl. Okay, maybe I would have thought he was a sissy fool if I had known then, but if I knew it was Sammy – well, from what Sirius tells me you were a big tomboy then. You were big on sports and – uh, beating up people from what I understood."

"He really told you all that?" Sammy asked, wrinkling up her nose.

"Yeah, he did. There was more but I don't quite remember it all. He said something about how you'd changed quite a bit, but you were still pretty much the same – I don't know, it was kind of confusing after a while. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to us," James answered, grinning.

Realizing he had said a bit too much, he called out to Lily. "Are you going to take any longer? I haven't got all day, you know."

"I got my stuff a while ago, but you were busy talking to Sammers to notice," Lily answered reproachfully.

"Then let's go, already."

The two walked out of the portrait hole and walked along towards the library wordlessly. Lily had a lot to ask James, and vice versa, but neither felt capable of breaking the silence. Finally, when it really started to annoy both of them, they turned on one another.

"For goodness sake, say _something!" Lily screamed._

"You're blaming me for not saying anything, but you didn't speak either!" James cried.

"What – well, I thought you didn't like me talking, Potter," Lily answered obstinately.

"The feeling's mutual, Tiger."

"What happened to the Lily?" Lily asked him.

"It's too long. Besides, the word tiger serves the purpose well enough," he answered, looking ahead and resuming his walk.

Lily jogged a little to get back to pace with him. The silence went on once more. "Grr, I may not like talking to you, but I prefer it to silence, jeez!" Lily said.

"I'm flattered…"

"No, really, you can be nice if you want to be, you know," Lily said.

"So can you, you know," James replied mockingly. "But, well, I've been thinking…"

"So have I – I mean, about what Jackie was saying the other day. Normally, I'd just ignore her, but, well, this time I think she had a point," Lily agreed.

"Yeah, I thought so too. John's usually slightly dim, but for a change I think his words really made me think."

"Hmm – made for each other, don't you think? Both of them are pretty similar – could've been twins."

James couldn't help grinning. Lily had a different way of looking at things. It was a pity the other girls had a lot of influence on her. In the beginning it had looked as though she would've been one of them, but Lily had too much of a fiery temper to stand long.

"Well, anyway, what do you think of their advice?" James asked finally.

"I think it's worth a try. If we don't have anything good to say to one another, we won't say anything at all. We might not be able to be friends, but we don't have to be enemies either if we just _ignore one another," Lily suggested, shrugging her shoulders._

"Uh, that wasn't exactly what I thought… I was thinking more along the friendship line," James said dully. "We don't have to, I mean, it hasn't worked so far. But, well, Samantha and Sirius were probably the main reason for the entire rift between you four and us. Now that they're being perfectly friendly again…"

"Look, James, I know that all eight of us want to be friends with each other, but it isn't going to work. I mean, it works for the six of them, except for Suzanne and Peter, I guess… and maybe Remus, but it doesn't work for us – as in, you and me."

"We can try," James suggested bleakly.

"What do you think we've been doing all this time, James – playing games?" Lily exclaimed.

"No, but we can always keep trying, right? Lily, I know this sounds really one-sided, but we've never really hated you four. We just haven't gotten along. All of us have our differences. I guess Sirius didn't like the way I was helping you so much when we were catching the train, but after a while of talking to you, he liked you. Peter liked you too, after you slapped that git, Malfoy, across the face. Remus couldn't help taking a liking to you, and I guess I couldn't either, ever since I asked you where to buy an owl from in Diagon Alley. Your sister sure was weird. No offense…"

"Can I ask you something?" Lily said unsurely.

"You already have," James said complacently.

"James!" Lily whined, punching him lightly on the arm.

"Okay, shoot."

"Exactly _why do you guys want to be friends with us? Aren't you four happy on your own?" Lily asked plainly._

"Of course, we're fine on our own. But we can't help feel that it wouldn't be good on _our part to make enemies out of you four. Sirius and I – well, we really met our match in you and Sammy, I'll tell you that much."_

"Very funny, Potter – but really, is that the _truth, or do you just want to make a good impression with the other people in school? When I was walking onto the Hogwarts Express, following you two, do you have any idea what people were saying about me?"_

"No…" James said slowly.

"There were all sorts of whispers. Did Potter get a new girlfriend? Who's that girl with Black and Potter? Everyone seemed to know you two, and they all seemed surprised to find _me with you."_

"A lot of people know my dad, that's why. He's an Auror, so naturally a lot of people like him and trust him. And Sirius – well, his sister was pretty popular when she was here, and Sirius himself always has a few girls on his tail."

"What's an Auror?"

"Oh, sorry – um, an Auror's a person who basically – well, Aurors are Death-Eater catchers, to put it in simple terms. They basically fight those on the Dark Side, and work alongside the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh, I see. What does Sirius' dad do?" Lily asked.

"He works at the Ministry. He's in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. It suits him well, actually, since he's a pro Quidditch player. He was Quidditch Captain when he was in Hogwarts. I think he was a Beater, but I can't remember. Sirius takes after his dad a lot, and not just in looks. He prefers Beater to any other position," James answered, walking brusquely.

"Well, we're here, so we might as well start working on this project," Lily said. Shuddering, she added, "Are werewolves as dangerous as they're made out to be in books and on TV?"

"I wouldn't know. I mean, they are dangerous. They're larger than normal wolves and if you get bit by one then you become one too. They're pretty strong and could probably knock you out – or worse. But I don't know anything else about them."

"But this is all so – so _weird," Lily said, as she walked over to the section of the library with books on magical creatures._

"What is?" James asked following her and pulling books off of the shelf.

"My parents always told me that everything – you know, Santa Claus, fairies, trolls, griffins, leprechauns, witches, and all that – that they were all imaginary things that people made up to entertain us and make us laugh or cry or get scared," Lily answered. "And now – I'm researching werewolves in a school for witches and wizards."

"Yeah, I guess it would be strange for Muggles who get accepted into wizarding schools. But they're real enough. My dad said that the reason Muggles have stories and movies about them are because in the beginning our kind weren't very good at keeping things secret, so certain things escaped. Why do you always have a witch on a broom? Flying was probably one thing that just could _not be kept secret. That's why witches always have brooms, turn people into toads, and have black cats for pets. I'm just glad they never wrote stories about witches and wizards using owls for a postal service. Then we'd really be in soup."_

Lily couldn't help laughing. James had a way of making everything he said sound funny even if it was a simple statement. "James you're really too much. But we have to get to work, so no more talking."

"Let's see how long _you last under that rule, Tiger."_

"Is that a dare?" Lily asked.

"No, I was just making a statement," James replied, making Lily frown. "There's no need to get upset. At least it isn't a bet."

"Oh, shut up, Potter."

"So, we're back to last names, are we, Evans?"

"James, let's not go through this again, okay?" Lily groaned.

"It's fine with me. Personally, I prefer Tiger to Evans," he said winking.

Lily rolled her eyes and hid herself behind her book. She skimmed through the pages until she came upon something relevant. Quickly pulling out her quill and some paper, she jotted down the notes. She glanced at James and seeing the face he was making while trying to read her writing upside-down, she burst out laughing.

"What did I do? Man, you're always laughing at me."

"It's not my fault if you can't read upside-down, James!"

"It's not my fault if your handwriting is too messy to read upside-down, Lily!"

"Give it a rest, will you?" called out a familiar sneering voice.

"Who's that?" James and Lily called out together.

Snape and Malfoy stepped out from behind a bookshelf, both smirking at the two sitting on the floor. James was about to get up but Lily pulled him down again.

"Don't do anything stupid," she muttered to him.

"I can take care of myself, thank you," he said, pushing her hand away and standing up once more.

"So, Potter, we meet again," said Snape.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to have to see your stinking face any more, but you can't have everything, can you?" James spat at them.

Lily stood up too, in case she had to run to the librarian for help. She didn't want them to pick a fight in the library.

"So, your little Mudblood friend is back, I see," Malfoy said, nodding towards Lily.

"Keep your mouth shut, unless you want a mark on your other cheek this time," Lily said quietly.

"Oh, so the little girlie's talking big this time, is she?" Snape challenged.

James couldn't take it anymore. He lashed out. With a lightning quick movement, he jerked his leg forward and kicked him deftly in the stomach, causing Snape to become unsteady and fall over backwards, groaning. But there was still Malfoy to deal with. Before James knew what had happened, Malfoy's fist connected with his jaw. The pain seared through him. Rubbing his jaw, he felt blood come from his lip. He stepped backwards, expecting to find Lily behind him, but she wasn't there. She had rushed off to get the librarian.

"Oh, drat, Madam Pince isn't here! Why did she have to go _now, of all times, for a bathroom break?"_

Running back to the scene, she saw that Snape had now gotten up. James was up against two people. Luckily, there were more people in the library. Running through the aisles, looking for someone, she found none other than Lisa and Cam.

"Oh, thank God you two are here – Snape and Malfoy and James are having a fight – stupid idiots! And Madam Pince isn't even here to stop them!"

"Three first years are picking a fight? Cam, you better go check it out," Lisa said.

"Yeah, I'm going," he said, getting up quickly and going over to where they were.

Lily was in too much shock to say anything. She just fell to her knees and put her hand on her forehead. Her heart was pounding and she felt dizzy.

"Hey, Lily, it's okay. Cam's a prefect; he'll break them up. Why did they start fighting in the first place? And what were you doing there with them?" Lisa asked.

Lily explained slowly about their meeting on the train and about they're second meeting minutes before. When she had finished, Lisa's arm was around her shoulder and she was brushing Lily's hair out of her face.

"It's okay, Lily. There's no need to worry. You didn't do anything wrong. As far as I can see, uh, Snape provoked James into kicking him. There'll just be points taken away – that's all."

"Will Cam take points from Gryffindor too?" Lily asked.

"He's going to have to. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. James _did strike first, mind you."_

Lily stood up. She muttered a quick excuse about having to go back to work, and walked away slowly to where the three boys had been brawling. She was glad to see that Snape and Malfoy were gone, but when she caught sight of Cam kneeling on the ground talking to James who was holding his head in his hands and staring at the floor, she couldn't help but get worried all over again.

She waited until Cam had left – walking straight past her – before she sat down next to James again. Neither of them said a word for a while, but James broke the silence.

"I'm probably the first Gryffindor to get a detention in the first week of school."

"You're not – not getting a _detention, are you?" Lily asked frantically._

"Malfoy is too, but Snape isn't. He didn't do anything, after all. Why do they always have to pick on me, the stupid gits?"

"It's because they're jealous," Lily stated, saying the first thing that came into her head.

"What have I got for them to be jealous of? Don't be stupid, Lily."

"I'm not being stupid. But they are jealous of you. Why wouldn't they be? Look at it logically. You're got everything anyone could ask for. Everyone in the whole school knows you. You've had friends from the first day of school. You're smart. You're –"

"You're just trying to cheer me up," James said dismally.

"No, I'm not. I mean, I am, but I'm not lying to make you happy. I'm telling you the truth. Anyone would just die to be in your place, James," Lily said optimistically.

"You wouldn't."

"James, when I said 'anyone' I was referring to any boy," Lily clarified.

"Yeah, you're right. Girls would probably die to be in _your place," James assumed._

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily said slowly.

"You're the first girl I've ever thought of as a friend."

"You're the first _person I've ever thought could be a friend."_

"Really – what about Sammy – isn't she your friend?" James asked.

"Yeah, but I met you first. You may not have become my friend, but after I got to know you, I thought you'd make a good friend."

"Did you think that even after you found out that I stole your best friend's friend?"

"Are you talking about Sammy and Sirius?" Lily asked, picking up another book.

"Yeah, I am. Everything's my fault. It's not fair. How was I supposed to know that Sammy felt bad that I was hanging around with Sirius? I never even knew that they were friends. I thought that their parents just made them play together because _they were friends. And now, Cam says that the only reason Malfoy hit me was because I kicked Snape. I mean, jeez, they were the ones who were criticizing __us."_

"James, slow down. You're talking nonsense. None of it was your fault. You can't possibly tell what's going to happen. If Sirius didn't tell you about Sammy then that's his decision. You don't have to take their whole situation to heart. They're friends now, aren't they? When I told Lisa what happened, she was on your side. She didn't expect you to get a detention. She just thought a couple of points would be taken, that's all."

"A couple of points – Cam took five for each of us."

"So, that means ten points from Slytherin. Look on the bright side, James. They're in trouble too."

"What bright side are you talking about? I don't see anything bright at all."

"What if I say yes to be friends?" Lily said suddenly.

"I thought you already did say yes."

"Hmm – well I didn't. So what if I say yes to be friends?"

"Do you always try this hard to cheer people up?" James asked again.

"Yes – now what if I say yes to be friends?"

James gave her a weak smile. "You don't have to. You already have. You don't have a choice."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Lily said grinning.

"It's about time you agreed, Tiger."

*


	12. Almost Winter

*

Time went by. Autumn neared its end and winter dawned. The days grew shorter and the nights longer, and the hallways and classrooms grew chillier by the minute. The first years were nearing the end of the term, longing for the time when they would be able to relax and soak in the Christmas air.

As the climate changed, so did the atmosphere between the first years. From the moment in the library, both groups of friends had set aside their differences and had agreed to be friends. The prank-pulling had come to a temporary stop, and the eight Gryffindors along with their other three classmates enjoyed the serenity that ensued.

Lily and her friends were crowded around the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room one Saturday morning. They were chatting and joking around. For a change, Lily was struggling through her Transfiguration homework, instead of putting it off till later. Sammy was scribbling something on a piece of paper, and Pooja was playing chess with Suzanne – as usual.

Suddenly, the portrait hole swung open to expel Sirius, James, Remus, and a very irritated Peter. All of them, except for Peter, were wearing wide grins. Lily could have sworn that if James didn't have glasses, he and Sirius would've looked like twins. But Sirius had blue eyes – probably the only other difference between the two friends.

"We've made up a name for our gang," James said excitedly.

"Oh, really – and what might that be?" Sammy smirked.

"Guess," was all Sirius said in return.

"Um – are you guys the – uh – Playful Pranksters?" Suzanne asked, making Pooja burst out laughing.

"Yeah, and, like – you're the Queen of England," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I am?" Suzanne asked again, grinning this time.

"Oh, shut up," he muttered.

"Are you guys the Mischief-Makers?" Pooja guessed again.

"Come on, you guys – you get one more guess," Sirius said, shaking his head at them.

"Ha, this is like Rumpelstiltskin!" Lily said suddenly.

"This is like _what?" all seven of them asked._

"Oh, it's a Muggle story. Don't ask me to tell it to you guys; it's too long," Lily explained.

"Tell it to us Lily! Tell me a story!" James said like a little kid, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her.

"Yeah, Lily – you shouldn't have mentioned stories. James isn't going to let you go until you tell him one. And we're the Marauders, by the way," Sirius said, grinning at her.

Lily rolled her eyes at them and proceeded to get up and walk away. James, however, pulled her back down into her chair. She glared at him and tried again, but this time, he sat in her lap, surprising everyone in the Common Room.

"Aah, James, get _off me!" she shrieked._

"I want a story!" he yelled, unintentionally jumping while on her lap.

"James, you don't want to make me use my last resort –" Lily warned.

"What's that?" he asked, suddenly stopping.

But Lily had already pulled out her wand and was muttering a few, well-chosen words. In a second, James could no longer be seen. All seven heads looked up to see him floating in the air.

"Wow, Lily – how'd you do that?" Sammy asked, standing up.

"Charms – what else?" she said, smiling at them.

"Lily, get me down!" James yelled.

"Did you hear something?" Lily asked, with her head cocked to one side, still smiling.

"Lily, get me down before I transfigure you into a fish!" he yelled.

"Sorry, James, not even _you can do that. We haven't done Human-Transfiguring yet," Lily said, grinning at him._

"This is going to be a long weekend…" James muttered.

*

"James, can you help me with my homework?" Lily asked the next morning. She still hadn't gotten down to finishing her Transfiguration.

Sirius, Sammy, and Suzanne had gone to ask Professor McGonagall about the Quidditch team. They hadn't yet come back. Remus had left last night to see his sister off, and Pooja was sleeping in. 

"Is it Transfiguration? Here – take mine," James said, handing her his essay.

"James, I can't copy off of you!" Lily shrieked. "That's cheating!"

"Hold your horses, Tiger Lily. You're talking to James Potter, here. Cheating doesn't exist in my world. Now take it," he said, putting it down on the table in front of her. He turned around and went back to reading his book.

"James…" she whined.

James turned around. A grin appeared on his face when he saw Lily pushing his essay away with her eyes shut. She wouldn't break the rules even if her life depended on it.

"Oh, alright, I was just seeing what you'd do. I didn't expect you to copy, anyway," he said, smiling at her.

_He has a cute smile. Oh my god, you did not__ just think that, Lily! Calm down, girl – you're just too tired – you aren't thinking straight…_

They settled down at the table. James started explaining to her all he knew on the subject, and Lily listened attentively. She couldn't imagine that they had nearly become enemies after the first week of school. Being enemies with James Potter – it was the most unimaginable thing in the world.

James was thinking along similar lines. He liked being friends with people. It was just too much to handle having to yell and scream and hurl insults every which way. It was especially hard to hate girls. They were just too nice – especially Lily.

_She's nice. She's really nice – and sweet too. She's nothing like Sabs – I guess Sirius' sister is just different. Lily's more of a typical girl – except for her temper. I'm glad we finally got down to being friends. It's a lot better than fighting all the time. And Lily's friends are fun too – though Suzanne's kind of strange, Sammy's just too boyish, and Pooja's too smart to be in first year. I don't know – they've all got their good sides and bad sides. But Lily's the best._

"Hey, guys, what are you two up to?" Suzanne asked as she waltzed into the Common Room.

"We're catching up on some homework," Lily asked. "What'd McGonagall say?"

"That old crab – she says we have to wait until second year _no matter what. That's not fair. It's just not fair. It doesn't make sense. It's not like we're not good enough – Sammers is really good, and so is Sirius. I guess it was just me," she said, sighing._

"Jeez, Suzie – that's not it at all. McGonagall probably just didn't want to get your guys' hopes up. She can't break the rules any more than we can," Lily said, comforting her friend.

"Oh, well, if you say so… Hey, have you guys seen Sammy and Sirius?" Suzanne asked suddenly.

"No, I thought they were with you?" James asked, surprised.

"Well, they were, but I kind of walked out on them after talking with McGonagall. I went for a walk around the grounds, and I expected them to have come back by now. That's strange…"

"I guess they're probably in the library," Lily said, before James could think of anything else.

"Yeah, let's go look."

The three slipped out of their Common Room and walked down the hall. Lily and Suzanne were off to one side, discussing something that James would prefer not to hear. They seemed to be giggling about something or other. James just hoped that that something wasn't him.

In a couple more minutes, they were in the library. Lily smiled inwardly as she heard Sammy's voice. Apparently, Sammy was yelling at Sirius – again. It was quite normal to hear such a thing. It was as natural as James and Lily's constant fighting had been. Except, whereas James and Lily fought out of pure hatred, Sammy and Sirius just argued because that's what friends did.

"See, they've just been in the library. I bet they're working on their project together," Lily said, giving James an I-rest-my-case look.

The three walked around until they found them – in an interesting situation. They had been known to argue – but not to get physical. Sirius was laying face-down on the floor, and Sammy was sitting on his back, bending his arm behind him. It looked as though Sirius had offended Sammy somehow, and she was making him say otherwise.

"Take that back!" she yelled.

"No, I don't think I will…" Sirius said, apparently enjoying himself.

Sammy may have been strong, but Sirius could easily put up with her. He'd had over five years of experience, after all. Neither one of them noticed their three spectators.

 "Um, guys – what _are you __doing?" Suzanne asked._

Both of them stopped. Sammy bit her lip and got off of Sirius, who sat up and rubbed his arm. Both of them turned slightly pink. Lily just grinned at them.

"We were studying – you know, Inkle's stupid project. But – well, Sirius wasn't being very nice and I had to teach him a lesson," Sammy said casually.

James couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. For some reason, he couldn't stop. It was quite a sight to see him like that, doubled over with laughter and slowly turning pink. In a couple of minutes, all five of them were laughing like there was no tomorrow. Madam Pince, the librarian, had to chase them out before they could calm down.

"Okay, now that we've stopped laughing, can someone tell me what was so funny?" Sirius asked, apparently trying to crack some more jokes.

He wasn't successful, however. Everyone else just stared at him, with their eyebrows raised.

"Okay, never mind then… Hey, how are we going to study, now? Madam Pince won't let us in again, that's for sure," Sirius asked.

"Have you ever considered studying in the Common Room, dimwit?" Sammy asked, whacking him on the head.

"I'm a dimwit?" he asked her skeptically.

"Yes, you are – now come _on! I don't fancy having Inkle breathing down our necks the whole time in class tomorrow because we haven't gotten any work done," Sammy snapped at him. She grabbed his arm and dragged him away, much to the amusement of the others._

"Okay, now what do we do?" James asked.

Suzanne and Lily just looked at one another and shrugged. What were they supposed to do? They could always do homework – but Suzanne didn't have a partner, as Remus was away and Katherine Hopkins was nowhere to be found.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to work on Transfiguration or Defense – and Suzie, you can just – I don't know, maybe you can do whatever you want. Find Pooja and play chess or something," Lily said, shrugging.

"Yeah, I'll go find Pooja. You two go ahead," Suzanne said, her eyes lighting up. She skipped along and in a matter of seconds, she was gone.

"Do you _really want to do homework? I mean, don't you have anything better to do?" James asked her._

"Yes, but I can't think of anything else right now. I suppose I could read – but we can't go back to the library and I don't have anything else to read," Lily said, sighing.

"So, Miss Evans spends her entire life studying and reading. Don't you ever do anything _fun?" James asked her again._

"Reading's fun," she said, smiling up at him.

"I mean, besides that…" he said, rolling his eyes at her.

"Well, I used to go bike-riding a lot in the summertime, but I couldn't really have brought my bike to Hogwarts, you know," Lily said, grinning.

"Jeez, you really need to learn what 'fun' is. Don't girls ever have anything interesting to do in their lives? I mean, honestly, there are so many things out there to do, and you can't even think of anything!" James exclaimed.

"Oh, really – and what can you think of that I didn't?"

"Well, for one, I could ask you where your wand is…" James said, grinning suddenly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked, as she reached inside her pocket.

To her surprise, she found that it was empty. Her wand wasn't there. But she had a sneaking suspicion that James knew perfectly well where it was.

"James, where's my wand?" Lily asked him, her hands on her hips.

"It is right here," he said, holding it out to her. "Don't worry. It's safe with me."

Lily tried to snatch it back, but James was too quick for her. He jerked his arm out of the way in a flash. He twirled it through his fingers like a cheerleader would twirl her baton. Lily glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"How'd you get that from me?" she asked icily.

"Magic," he said winking at her.

"James – you know how to do the Summoning Charm already? But, we haven't even done that yet! We don't learn until fourth year!" Lily said, clapping her hands with excitement.

"Of course, I haven't, silly. I'd just make a good pick-pocket if nothing else takes my fancy," James muttered as he walked on.

Lily stopped in her tracks and pondered this thought for a while. She could be rather slow at thinking things out sometimes. She couldn't figure out what he meant for a couple of minutes, but she did realize that James still had her wand, and so she jogged to catch up with him.

"James, give me my wand back!" she demanded.

She didn't expect him to comply, but strangely enough, he handed it back to her immediately, giving her a smile. Lily just blinked and grabbed it quickly, not wanting to give him a chance to jerk it away again. Things were strange – and getting stranger.

"Come on; hurry up. You're so slow," James complained.

_Well, I knew his kindness was just a fake. It couldn't possibly last any longer._

"Okay, then – see if you can get there _before me!" Lily giggled._

She set off down the hall before James could say anything. She was small built, but she was also very fast. By the time James knew what she was doing, she was already twenty feet ahead of him. But, luckily for him, he was pretty fast too. The two set off down the hallway. Lily had a sudden fit of giggles and had to slump against the wall to catch her breath. Unfortunately, James didn't see her and tripped over her.

"Oof…" James exclaimed as he landed on the floor. 

"Whoops, sorry – I didn't realize you were still running," Lily said, now massaging her ankle where James had hit it.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, you're just the man I was looking for."

Professor Orenstein, the Potions professor and the Deputy Headmistress, had approached the two on the floor and was standing over them with a look of disapproval on her face.

"Professor Orenstein – what are you – I mean, what did you want me for?" James asked, standing up and dusting off his robes.

 "I have information on your detention. Professor McGonagall asked me to deliver this letter to you personally. You will serve it tomorrow afternoon. Be prepared to do something – rather different from your everyday work…" she trailed off.

She sneered at him and handed him the note with a stony glare, then walked off. James gulped as he ripped open the note. Lily crawled over to where he was on the floor, and read over his shoulder.

"Well, that isn't so bad. You just have to put up with Inkle for about – two hours…" Lily muttered.

"Yeah, I guess not. I don't mind, really. If I'm in his office the whole time then – well, who knows – I might be able to plan some joke or other to play on him. The only thing I _do mind is that I'll be stuck with those two Slytherin jerks… I won't be able to do anything in front of them and get away with it," James said, frowning._

"Well, I doubt they're smart enough to notice," Lily said, grinning.

James grinned back. He got to his feet and helped Lily up as she gingerly put wait on her feet. Lily smiled slightly as he helped her hop to the Common Room.

"James, didn't you already have a detention for what happened in the library with those two?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Oh yeah, I did. This is for something else I did wrong," James said, smiling sheepishly. 

"I should have known," Lily said, shaking her head.

"I think I'd better go down to the Hospital Wing. I don't fancy climbing up any stairs with this," she said, gesturing to her twisted ankle.

"Should I help you over there?" James asked her.

"No, I think I'm alright – thanks for the offer, though."

"Yeah, well, I'll see you around," James said, shrugging.

Lily and James started walking their separate ways. Suddenly, though, Lily turned around and addressed James.

"Oh, and by the way, James, I sincerely think you should give it a shot. You know, you can get away with anything during detention," Lily said, smiling again.

"Yeah, I think you're right."

*


	13. B is for Brooms, C is for Curses

*

"Sammy, are you sure this is safe?" Lily whispered worriedly biting her lip.

"Trust me, Lily. Flying is the easiest thing on the planet. It's even easier than Charms."

"I'm not so sure about –"

"Hey, everyone!" called a sweet voice.

All heads turned towards the pretty, smiling brunette that had now approached them, alongside a wizened witch. She was clearly a seventh year, for she had a shiny Head Girl badge pinned to her robes. Her eyes were a soft gray, with just the slightest tinge of hazel.

"First years, this is Violet Brown," said the old lady. "She is the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and our Head Girl this year. I have some business to attend to with some of the school brooms and the owls," her eyes flickered towards where James, Sirius, and Peter were standing, grinning mischievously, "and therefore, she will be taking over for your first flying lesson. Violet, dear, do take care that they don't misbehave. And if punishment is necessary," her eyes swept around the room, taking all of their faces, "I am sure Professor Tootlebeck and Professor McGonagall will have enough time to write out the detentions."

She turned on her heel and left everyone staring at Violet with a look of eleven-year-old-fear on their faces. She smiled at them all, hoping that it would make them more at ease, but it didn't.

"Well, I've got to warn you all. Madam Hooch is a bit of a – grouch. Um, well, like she said, I'm the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and the Head Girl. Um, I'm a Seeker on the Quidditch team, and – well, any questions before we begin?"

Sirius slowly let his hand into the air. Sammy, who caught James' eye, looked down at the dewy grass to keep from laughing. Lily just shook her head. Violet raised an eyebrow. It was clear from the look on her face that she wasn't sure whether or not Sirius was the kind of person to ask a – decent – question at the very least. Nevertheless, she called on him.

"Um, the little black-haired twin with no glasses…" she trailed off.

Sirius narrowed his eyes just slightly, as he said, "Well, first off, I'm not little. Second, James isn't my twin. Third, my name is Sirius, and I'd prefer it if you call me by name. Fourth, are all Quidditch Captains so ditzy?"

 Lily's jaw dropped as she looked at Violet, dreading to see what would happen. The rest of the first years were roaring with laughter. Even some of the Slytherins couldn't keep themselves from having to wipe tears of mirth from their eyes. Sirius, who was keeping his face straight, a talent of his that he had acquired almost immediately after he had acquired his thirst for mischief, was looking around at everyone as though he had no clue whatsoever as to what was so funny. James was slapping him on the back and Peter was clutching his side because he was laughing so hard. Even Snape and Malfoy were biting their lips and staring at their shoes to keep from letting even the smallest hint of a smile onto their faces. Violet raised her eyebrow once more and faked a smile.

"You'll find that we're a lot harder than you think. Sirius, eh – so you're the one who wanted to know if you could get onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a first year…" she trailed off.

Sirius just blinked. Everyone stopped laughing. James looked up and stared hard at Sirius, and then turned to glue his eyes on Violet along with everyone else.

"Well, if you're lucky, next year Jake Wiggins will allow you onto the team," she smirked.

The Slytherins snickered from where they were standing, all laughing and pointing at Sirius. His face burned and he glared at Violet. James held onto his collar and whispered something into his ear that no one else could hear. Whatever he said, it mad Sirius calm down.

"Well, everyone, go stand by one of the brooms over there," she said pointing. When no one did anything, she said, "Well, hop to it!"

They all flinched and then ran in the direction she had pointed. Sammy, Suzanne, Sirius, and James all rushed to find a broom that was in better shape than the rest, that is to say, one that still had all its parts intact. Lily, who had no experience whatsoever with brooms, picked the one between James and Sammy.

"Well, now that you all have your brooms, I want you all to understand carefully what you're about to do. Now, I know that some of you have probably flown already, seeing as most of you come from Wizarding families. But nevertheless, we must take certain precautions… yes, um, James, isn't it?" she asked, as she saw yet another hand wave in the air.

"How about those of us who already _know how to fly, just, well, __fly, and teach everyone else?" James said, hesitantly._

Lily admired his nerve. She wouldn't have dared to ask such a thing at the moment, what with Violet already so mad at them.

"You know what, James? You're a lot like my brother, Bark. He graduated two years ago, and he was Quidditch Captain of Gryffindor and Head Boy. At the same time, though, he was probably the most devilish boy in his year," she said, staring long and hard at James, who shifted his weight uneasily.

"Is – is that a good thing?" he asked quietly.

"That you're like my brother – probably not. But you've got a lot of nerve, and it's my guess that you'd make a good Quidditch player. Who knows, maybe your grades will turn out to be good too," she said, flashing him a smile.

"Does anyone else think that we've got some split-personality thing going on here?" Sirius whispered into Peter's ear.

"Well, enough talk – and to answer your question, James, no. Everyone, now, you stick your right hand over the broom and say 'Up!'"

"Good luck – you'll probably need it. We'll see you in the Hospital Wing," Snape sneered over to him as the brooms soared up and into their hands.

"You shouldn't talk to yourself like that, Snape. Honestly, people are going to think you're going insane!" James said to him, batting his eyes at him in an overly-sarcastic manner.

"Aren't you forgetting something, James?" Lily broke in, eager to do her bit. "They're _already insane!"_

"True, true," James said, sighing and smiling at her. "But then, it's no wonder that they got into Slytherin, once you look at them from _that aspect…"_

"Shut your mouth, Mudblood…" Malfoy hissed under his breath.

"Will you four please keep your mouths _shut while I'm speaking?" Violet snapped at them._

"Yes, Miss Brown," James said innocently.

She rolled her eyes over to them and told them to start mounting their brooms the way they were supposed to. James and Sammy knew well enough how to, so they spent the next five minutes helping Lily. Unfortunately, Sirius wasn't as kind to his neighbor, and Peter was left to figure out why he was looking at the twigs rather than the handle on his own.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked, ignoring Peter's squeals of panic. "On the count of three, kick off from the ground – now, one – two – three!"

Lily felt a rush of air as James and Sammy both soared into the air. A thrill of excitement flooded through her as she thought of soaring up among them. She tried her best to kick off too, but something was wrong. Her foot seemed to be stuck to the ground. She tried to use the other foot, but then it got stuck too. She pulled upwards with all her might, but nothing seemed to work. Then, all of a sudden, the broom itself flew straight out of her grasp and soared up into the sky. She tried to jump and catch it, but her feet were firmly planted to the ground.

"Someone – help – me!" she screamed.

Twenty feet above her, Sammy heard her yell. She flew over to where Sirius and James were helping Peter. She prodded Sirius in the back and pointed down.

"Lily's still down there. Something's wrong," Sammy said.

James, Sirius, and Sammy flew down, leaving Peter to his own devices. They found Lily stuck to the ground, with no broom in sight.

"Lily, where's your broom?" Sirius asked. "It's no wonder you can't fly. Magic can't make you do _everything. You still need a broom!"_

"I realized _that. And I'm not trying to fly! Well, I was, but now that's pretty pointless seeing that the broom's flown away…" she trailed off._

"It flew away? Well, why didn't you tell anyone?" Sammy asked.

"Why do you think I was shouting?" Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Oh, but, you should've gone and called Violet," James said, shrugging.

"I would have, but it's kind of – impossible at the moment…" Lily said, pointing to her feet.

"What's wrong with them? All you have to do is walk –" Sammy began.

"That's the point! They're stuck!" Lily said in exasperation.

For a second, no one said anything. Then, as if on cue, all three of them burst out laughing. Lily face flushed a deep scarlet until it was as red as her hair. She narrowed her eyes and then burst out with a loud scream.

"Violet, I'm stuck to the ground and no one's helping me so I'm getting really, really, mad!"

All three stopped suddenly. They had never heard Lily scream before, and she had always seemed to be rather soft-spoken up until now, so it was rather surprising to find her screaming so shrilly all of a sudden.

"What's that? Who screamed?" Violet asked as she approached them. "Why haven't you four started flying yet? You were the ones showing off and insisting that you teach everyone else how to fly; now what's wrong?"

"Lily's stuck," Sammy explained.

"Now isn't the time to be worrying about flowers! I said get up in the air!"

"I'm _not a flower!" Lily yelled again._

"What?" Violet exclaimed, slightly confused.

"My name's Lily, and my feet are stuck to the ground!"

"Come on, now; surely you're not _that afraid of flying. Just mount your broom and hold on tight and nothing will happen! Trust me!" Violet said, slapping her on the back and nearly making Lily lose her balance – which, of course, she couldn't anyway since her feet were stuck._

"No, really, my feet won't move. And even if they did, the broom's gone up, up and away…" she trailed off.

"Nice try, kid, but I've seen too many people feigning that they were in similar catastrophic positions to be dumb enough to believe you," Violet said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Jeez, woman, take a hint! She's telling the bloody truth!" James said, losing all his patience.

"Oh, really, _man, well, let, me test her then, __man, okay?" Violet replied._

She pulled out her wand and tapped it a couple times against her palm, making a couple of gold sparks shoot out of the end, missing Sirius' ear by inches.

"_Mobilicorpus!" she yelled, pointing her wand at Lily._

However, strangely enough, nothing happened. Sirius shot her a look of defiance. Violet, however, was undaunted.

"Hmm – _Finite Hexodus!" she said, this time pointing at Lily's feet._

Lily felt the bond between her feet and the ground suddenly snap, sending her flying face-forward into the ground fifty feet away from the others. She stood up, her head spinning and her hands and knees scraped from her fall.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"She was hexed. Well, I suggest you three get back up there and help your other friend. He seems to be losing his balance because he mounted his broom backwards."

Sammy shot her a sour look as all three of them turned. James and Sirius took off again to help Peter, who was nearly falling. Sammy went over to Lily.

"Are you alright?" she asked, helping her friend up.

"Unless you count the dizziness and the throbbing in my left ear, I'm just spiffy," Lily said, holding her hand to her forehead.

"Well, do you think you can try again with the kicking off part?" Sammy asked as she retied her blond hair into a loose ponytail.

"How can I? I don't have a broom anymore!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh yeah…"

"Do you think Violet will give me another one?" Lily asked unsurely.

"I don't know. It's worth a shot. Maybe she can get the other one back…" Sammy trailed off.

"Okay, come on. I'm going to need you to help me, anyway," Lily said, grabbing her arm.

They walked a short distance until Lily realized that she had no clue as to where Violet was. Lily looked around, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for her to show up.

"Lily – um – you might want to move…" Sammy muttered.

"No, Sammers, I'm looking for Violet," Lily said, waving her off.

"No, Lily, I suggest you move," Sammy urged, tugging on her sleeve.

"What is it?" Lily asked impatiently.

"It's that!" Sammy said pointing at something hurtling towards them. "Lily, get down!"

Both of them dropped to the ground as they waited for the object to fly over them. For some odd reason, however, it didn't. Sammy stood up and laughed. She prodded Lily, and motioned for her to stand up.

"It's the broom, Lily! It came back! Come on, let me help you, now…"

*

"Lily, it's charms time," James said, tugging on her ponytail.

"Aah, stop it!" she said, whacking him on the head with the book she had bought to help her in Astronomy, _Atlas of the Heavens._

"Fine, I will. But _come already…" he said, grabbing her arm and threatening to drag her away._

There was a loud thump as Lily's chair fell backwards; causing her to do a backwards somersault, her legs flying through the air. She stood up, red-faced and glaring at James and still clutching her textbook.

"Come _on, already – before I pull your hair again!" he threatened._

"Okay, fine – but – what do you want _me to do?" she asked, puzzled, as she fixed her hair again._

"Help me. What else would you do?" James asked, scratching his head.

"It's not that simple, James…"

"It is for you," he replied, shrugging.

"Hey, you two – what're you doing?" Sammy asked, walking down the stairs from the girls' dormitories.

"He's teaching me how to teach him," Lily said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. (A/N: Lol – Stef – reie – I got that from you, by the way!)

"Well, isn't _he supposed to be in detention again for doing something or other? Was it for the whole thing with the brooms and the owls that Madam Hooch was on about?" Sammy asked, in a tone of someone who was suddenly being enlightened._

"The detention's on Friday, Sam," he said casually.

Sammy and Lily exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing. James settled for being innocently confused. What was it with girls and giggling? Even boys like him never burst out laughing whenever they felt like it. (A/N: Lol – get it? Girls – giggling… Boys – burst out laughing! Ha – I crack myself up… well, not really, but you know what I mean! You guys do get it, don't you? They both start with the same letter! *smiles with satisfaction as she watches all the little light bulbs turn on as they hover over everyone's heads*)

"What is it?" James asked finally.

"Today _is Friday, you idiot!" they said together, giggling again when they saw James' expression._

"Holy shit – catch you guys later! I've got to run!" he said.

And run he did. He was out of the Common Room in a flash, and he ran down the halls oblivious to the scolds of the Fat Lady on proper manners when opening and closing doors – namely their Portrait Hole door.

*


End file.
